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Grimm’s Law
Ryan Cotterell & James BrennerStructure of English
Proto Indo-European (PIE)
• PIE is the commonly accepted “umbrella” ancestor to the Indo-European languages.
• Its origins are debated as no substantial record of its history exists.
• Most reputable theories date its main existence somewhere between the 7th and 4th millenniums B.C.
• Its regions of origin are generally placed in far Eastern Europe around Ukraine, the Balkans, and other Black Sea Regions.
• By the 3rd millennium it had probably split into mostly non-mutually intelligible daughter dialects.
Proto – Germanic (PGmc)
• Refers to the general ancestor language of all Germanic languages (English, Dutch, German, Swedish, etc.)
• Generally accepted that it was not identifiable as a distinct dialect before 500 B.C.
• By 200 A.D., the Germanic dialect was classified as “Late – Proto…” or “Late – Common…”
Historical Context of PIE and PGmc• PIE was spoken in a basically pure form until at
least the 4thmillenium B.C.• No exact date can be given to specifically
separate Proto-Germanic from its earlier roots• However it is clear that PGmc was was not
classifiable as a distinct dialect before about 500 B.C. (about 2,500 years ago)
• Thus, that leaves at least 3,000 years (roughly 4,000 B.C. to 500 B.C.) that sound changes could have occurred from PIE to PGmc
• The most specific and identifiable of which probably occurred within the 1st millennium B.C.
Jacob Grimm (1785-1863)
Life + Background• A German lawyer, writer, and
linguist.• He is most popularly
remembered for his fairy tales, recorded with his brother Wilhelm.
• However his most influential work was actually in linguistics with his compilation of the German Dictionary and his identification of the sound shift now named after him.
Grimm’s Work and Career
Education• He completed under studies at
public schools in Kassel• Went to the University of
Marburg where he studied law• Upon attending the lectures of
Savigny, Grimm was introduced to the literary sources and historical texts of the lectures.
• It was here that Grimm’s interest in the history of languages began
Career• Worked at several libraries
(Kassel, Gottingen)• Held positions of Professor
and member of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin
• Was almost always accompanied by his brother
• Essentially, his jobs gave him continual access to resources to further his work in linguistics and its history
Karl Verner (1846-1896)
Life and Background• Danish Linguist• Conducted research in many
languages including Slavic and Semitic languages.
• His work in Germanic linguistics was actually limited compared to some of his other studies.
• However his recognition of the pattern to one of the exceptions of Grimm’s law, dubbed “Verner’s Law,” remains his most famous work.
Modern Indo-European Languages
English monthWelsh misGaelic míFrench moisSpanish mesPortuguese mêsItalian meseGerman MonatDutch maandSwedish månadPolish miesiacRussian myesyats
Greek minasAlbanian muajLithuanian menuoFarsi mâhHindi mahina
Arabic shahrFinnish kuukausiBasque hilabetheTurkish ayChinese yue
Phonology of PIE
Centum-Satem isogloss• Satem languages delabialized the labiovelars, merging the
labiovelars with the pure velars • Satem languages also assibilated the palatals• Centum languages depalatalized the palatals, merging them
with the pure velars
Grimm’s Law
• The major sound change discovered in linguistics
• Instrumental to the creation of the Comparative Method
• Established a regular set of correspondences between the Germanic language and the rest of the Centum Isogloss
• Divided into three parts
Part One
The voiceless stops change into voiceless fricatives
*p f *t þ *k x h *kw xw hw
ExamplesPortuguese péGreek pūs
Portuguese trêsGreek tria
Portuguese cão Greek kyon
Portuguese que
Icelandichvað
English foot Icelandic fótur
English three Icelandic þrír
English hound Icelandic
hundur
English what
Part Two
Voiced stops change into voiceless stops
*b p *d t *g k *gw kw
ExamplesLatin
berber
Latindecem
Latin gelu
English warpSwedish värpa
English tenSwedish tio
English coldSwedish kall
Part Three
Voiced aspirated stops loose aspiration
*bh b *dh d *gh g *gwh gw
Doublets in Englishfoot mother eight fire three heart knee five kinhemp guest
pedal maternaloctagon pyromania triple cardiac genuflect pentagon genus cannabis hostel
Verner’s Law
• Grimm’s law contained exceptions • Verner found a pattern among the exceptions• Verner’s Law additionally accounted for the
occasional mutation of *s z in the Germanic Languages.
• The ordering of Verner’s Law and Grimm’s Law is unclear
Verner’s Law1. Grimm’s law only applies to initial consonantsand consonants following a stressed syllable 2. In all other circumstances voiceless obstruents become voiced
*p b *t d *k g *kw gw *s z
Evidence of Verner’s Law in English
PIE root *duk (to lead) – inflection stressedducere (Latin)tug (English)
Grimm’s law predicts /tux/ Verner’s law explains the final /g/
Works Consulted• Ashliman, D.L.. "Grimm Brothers' Home Page". October 22, 2008
<http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html>.• "Grimm's Law and Verner's Law". Concordi College. October 22, 2008
<http://www.cord.edu/faculty/sprunger/e315/grimm.htm>.• "Grimm's Law". Univeristy of North Carolina. October 22, 2008
<http://asstudents.unco.edu/faculty/tbredehoft/UNCclasses/ENG419/Grimm.html>.
• "Proto Indo European". UTSA. October 22, 2008 <http://colfa.utsa.edu/drinka/pie/pie.html>.
• Ringe, Donald. From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2006.