An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/klingen

by Friedrich Kluge

klingen, vb., ‘to sound,’ from MidHG. klingen, OHG. chlingan, str. vb., ‘to sound, resound’; corresponding to Ic. klingja, ‘to ring.’ E. to clink has adopted the same final stem sound (k for g), which the subst. clank, connected with it by gradation (comp. Klang and klenken), has always had. The stem, like the derivative Klang (comp. also Klinge, Klinke, and klenken), is common to Teut., but on account of the non-permutation it cannot be cognate with Gr. κλαγγή, Lat. clangor. Both roots are independent onomatopoetic forms in each separate language.