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.