When we look at English and any of the romance languages side by side, we realise that they are fundamentally akin though they differ in detail. At first, this difference between English and other languages which descended from Indo-Euro-pean was not accounted for. Rask, a Danish scholar was the first to detect a law underlying this change. This law was propounded by the German scholar Jacob-Grimm and naturally it goes by the name of Grimm's law. Grimm's law seeks to account for the consonantal change in the 'Teutonic language which make them different from their romantic cousins. The consonants that were affected by Grimm's law were (1) Labials- bh. b,p: (2) Dentals-dh, d, t (3) Platals-gh g, k. Bh of the Indo European was changed into B in Teutonic, for example, Sanskrit 'Bhu' corresponding to English Be, B of the Indo-European was changed into the Teutonic P-for example, Sanskrit Sabar (Nector ) becoming Sap in English. Indo-European T was changed into Teutonic F. for example 'Pad' (foot) becomes in English foot.
Dh of the Indo-European language becomes the Teutonic D, for example, Sanskrit Dhvar becoming'door in English; Bandha becoming English Bind. 'D' of Indo-European becomes Tin leutonic-for example, Pad becoming Foot in English. Again, Sanskrit Dua becoming too in English. 'T' of Indo-European becomes Th in Teutonic. The English three is a development of the Sanskrit Tre. Danta in Sanskrit becomes in English Tooti; 'Gh' of the Indo-European becomes 'G' in Teutonic-for example, Ghans (Hansa) in Sanskrit has a close resemblance to English Goose. Indo-European 'G' becomes Teutonic 'K'. Janu of Sanskrit becomes knee in English. 'K' of Indo-European change itself into 'H' in Teutonic. Centum of Latin becomes Hundred in Englisn.
Ghu becomes Teutonic 'W'. Gharma becomes warm. 'Gu' becomes Kw. Gow Deco
the English cow, 'Kw' becomes Hw. Sanskrit 'Kaw' becomes English wh0 and Sanskrit Kas becomes English whizz.
These consonant shifts took place very early in the Teutonic language, centuries before the birth of Christ. These consonant shifts were not carried out according to a programme. These were due to a spontaneous change in popular pronunciation which was the effect of the Aryan migration.
Grimm's law is very wide in application. But in spite of its wideness, it could not explain the appearance of certain consonants in English where we expected to find them shifted. Under it, Sanskrit, Autor should have a 'th' rather than 'T'. The 'Th' appears in the cognate other. Such anomaly as 'seethe, sod, sodden again could not be explained. This led Kerl Verner, a Danish philologist to probe into the matter. Verner found the consistent working of a phenomenon which explains it. When the consonants are protected by the original Indo-European or Teutonic accents or when they appear at the beginning of a word, they are not shifted. But when voiceless consonants appear in the middle or at the end of a word and when they are not protected by an immediately preceding accent, they become voiced. The consonants to be affected by the working of Verner's law are f, th, h and s. In Teutonic they become v, th (dh), g (au) and z. These voiced consonants appear in English as v, d, g and r.
The same phonetic influence that prevented certain sounds from undergoing first consonant shift protected others from the operation of Verner's law Thet (in haeft) and g (in night) protected the 'f and the h from change. So also such groups sp, st, sk resisted every kind of change.
The essential parts of Verner's law related to changes due to lack of stress. The origin of the word 'herd' explains it. The word was harthus in early Teutonic, but the th not being protected by an accent immediately preceding became the English herd. The case of the numerical third is also in point. The th is due to the first regular shift of the 'r' in Tritiya. The final 'd' is a development ot final Th of Sanskrit due to lack of stress. Old English seafan became seven witna volced aspirant. Father, mother and brother also developed from Latin Pater, mater and frare, because accent in the Indo-European was pushed back to the second syllable and there was nothing to prevent the mutual aspirant th from becoming voiced. The change of s into 'z' is evident in the
word Freeze which was a development from old English Freosan.
The consonant shifts did not happen all at once. They were a long process involving centuries. The two consonant shnirts came to exert their fullest intluence in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era.
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| Consonant shift |
Dh of the Indo-European language becomes the Teutonic D, for example, Sanskrit Dhvar becoming'door in English; Bandha becoming English Bind. 'D' of Indo-European becomes Tin leutonic-for example, Pad becoming Foot in English. Again, Sanskrit Dua becoming too in English. 'T' of Indo-European becomes Th in Teutonic. The English three is a development of the Sanskrit Tre. Danta in Sanskrit becomes in English Tooti; 'Gh' of the Indo-European becomes 'G' in Teutonic-for example, Ghans (Hansa) in Sanskrit has a close resemblance to English Goose. Indo-European 'G' becomes Teutonic 'K'. Janu of Sanskrit becomes knee in English. 'K' of Indo-European change itself into 'H' in Teutonic. Centum of Latin becomes Hundred in Englisn.
Ghu becomes Teutonic 'W'. Gharma becomes warm. 'Gu' becomes Kw. Gow Deco
the English cow, 'Kw' becomes Hw. Sanskrit 'Kaw' becomes English wh0 and Sanskrit Kas becomes English whizz.
These consonant shifts took place very early in the Teutonic language, centuries before the birth of Christ. These consonant shifts were not carried out according to a programme. These were due to a spontaneous change in popular pronunciation which was the effect of the Aryan migration.
Grimm's law is very wide in application. But in spite of its wideness, it could not explain the appearance of certain consonants in English where we expected to find them shifted. Under it, Sanskrit, Autor should have a 'th' rather than 'T'. The 'Th' appears in the cognate other. Such anomaly as 'seethe, sod, sodden again could not be explained. This led Kerl Verner, a Danish philologist to probe into the matter. Verner found the consistent working of a phenomenon which explains it. When the consonants are protected by the original Indo-European or Teutonic accents or when they appear at the beginning of a word, they are not shifted. But when voiceless consonants appear in the middle or at the end of a word and when they are not protected by an immediately preceding accent, they become voiced. The consonants to be affected by the working of Verner's law are f, th, h and s. In Teutonic they become v, th (dh), g (au) and z. These voiced consonants appear in English as v, d, g and r.
The same phonetic influence that prevented certain sounds from undergoing first consonant shift protected others from the operation of Verner's law Thet (in haeft) and g (in night) protected the 'f and the h from change. So also such groups sp, st, sk resisted every kind of change.
The essential parts of Verner's law related to changes due to lack of stress. The origin of the word 'herd' explains it. The word was harthus in early Teutonic, but the th not being protected by an accent immediately preceding became the English herd. The case of the numerical third is also in point. The th is due to the first regular shift of the 'r' in Tritiya. The final 'd' is a development ot final Th of Sanskrit due to lack of stress. Old English seafan became seven witna volced aspirant. Father, mother and brother also developed from Latin Pater, mater and frare, because accent in the Indo-European was pushed back to the second syllable and there was nothing to prevent the mutual aspirant th from becoming voiced. The change of s into 'z' is evident in the
word Freeze which was a development from old English Freosan.
The consonant shifts did not happen all at once. They were a long process involving centuries. The two consonant shnirts came to exert their fullest intluence in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era.
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