Voiceless plosives of pie languages developed in pg into voiceless fricatives:

PIE > PG

p > f (L pes > Gt fōtus; NE foot)

t > θ (L tres, R три > NE tree)

k > х (L cor, R сердце > OE heort)

ACT II

IE voiced plosives shifted to voiceless plosives in PG:

PIE > PG

b > p (R болото > OE pōl, NE pool)

d > t (L decem, Fr dix, R десять > NE ten)

g > k (L ager > Gt akrs, NE acre)

ACT III

IE voiced aspirated plosives were reflected in PG either as voiced fricatives or as pure voiced plosives:

PIE > PG

bh> b/v (O Ind bhratā, R брат > OE brōðor, NE brother)

dh > d/ đ (O Ind rudhira, R рдеть, U рудий > OE rēad, NE red)

gh > g/ Υ (L hostis, R гость > Gt gasts, OE giest, NE guest)

3. Verner's Law.

Some correspondences of consonants seemed to contradict Grimm's Law and were for a long time regarded as exceptions from the Law. But in the late 19th c. a Danish scholar, Carl Verner, explained those consonant changes in PG, which J. Grimm didn’t manage to do. It was another important discovery, which is known in linguistics as Verner's Law.

According to Verner's Law all the early PG voiceless fricatives [f, θ, x], which arose under Grimm's Law, and also [s] inherited from PIE, became voiced between vowels if the preceding vowel was unstressed. In the absence of these conditions they remained voiceless. The voicing occurred in early PG at the time when the stress was not yet fixed on the root-morpheme. The process of voicing can be shown as a step in a succession of consonant changes in prehistoric reconstructed forms:

PIE Early PG Late PG

p > f > v

L septem >Gt sibun, OE seofon [v] >G sieben, NE seven

t > θ > ð, d

L pa'ter > Gt fadar (fa'θar>fa'ðar)> OE fæder, G Vater, Sw fader, NE father

k > х > γ, g

Lsocrus,

R свекровь,

U свекруха > OE sweЗer > G Schwager

s > z > r

OFr wesa > Gt wesun, NE was >OE wæron, NE were

Verner's Law explains the appearance of voiced fricative or its later modifications [d] in place of the voiceless [θ], and [r] in place of [z].

In late PG, the phonetic conditions that caused the voicing had disappeared: the stress had shifted to the first syllable.

That is how the initial step stimulated further changes and the entire system was shifted. It is essential that throughout the shift the original pattern of the consonant system was preserved.

Examples to the laws:

L gena – OE cin [kin] (NE chin)

L pecus – Gt faihu, OE feoh (NE fee)

R нагой – NE naked, G nackt

Ukr приятель – NE friend

Ukr дерево – Gt triu, NE tree

L edere, R еда – Gt itan, OE etan

Sans napat, L nepos – NE nephew, G Neffe

L caput – OE heafod, NE head

R пена – OE fam, NE foam

L statio – OE stede

2. Pre-Germanic Britain.

a) Celts.

CELTS is the name given, under various forms, by Greek and Roman writers to a people whose first-known territory was an area in the basin of the upper Danube and South Germany. Here they were pioneers of the working of iron. They overran France, Spain, Portugal, North Italy, the British Isles, Greece and sacked Rome in 390 BC. They appear never to have had a united empire, and their conquests were made by emigrant groups, which effected permanent settlements in the lands named as well as in the part of Asia Minor later known as Galatia. From their name the name "Celts" was given by classical authors to a fair tall people of North Europe and it was only gradually that they learned to distinguish them from the German tribes The origin of the word Celt originates from Greek Keltoi, Keltai, which means inhabitants of the forest or people that lived beyond the mountains.

The first inhabitants of Britain were the Iberians. They came from the continent about 3000 years B.C.

During the period from the 6th to the 3rd century B.C. the Celtsspread across Europe from the East to the West. Celtic tribes invaded the territory, which is known now as the British Isles. But at that time it was a continental part of the land easy to reach. We know more about the Celts than about the earlier inhabitants of the island, because of the written accounts that exist. The earliest writer from whom we have learned much about the country and its inhabitants was Julius Caesar_, the famous Roman general, statesman and writer. In hisCommentaries on the Gallic War,a book written in Latin, Julius Caesar describes the island and the Celts against whom he fought. He tells us that the Celts were tall and blue-eyed. They wore long flowing moustaches but no beards. In their mode of life the British Celts differed little from the Celtic tribes of the Galls who lived on the Continent.

Chiefs, whom all the tribesmen obeyed, ruled the Celts. The Celts had no towns, they lived in villages. They kept cattle and sheep. They also cultivated crops, especially corn. Their clothing was made of wale skins. In wartime the Celts painted their faces with a blue dye to make themselves look fierce. The Celts worshipped Nature as they were pagans. Their priests were called druids. The druids lived near the forests of oak-trees, which were considered to be sacred places.

The Celts were acquainted with the use of copper, tin and iron and they kept large herds of cattle and sheep, which formed their chief wealth. They also cultivated crops, especially corn; they used light ploughs as well as hoes, and grew their crops in small, square fields. The Celtic tribes of the Britons who inhabited the southeastern parts of the island were more civilized than the other tribes. Their clothing was made of wool, woven in many colours while the other Celts wore skins.

The Celts lived many centuries ago, but some Celtic words can still be found in Modern English. Most of them are geographical names.

2. Roman Conquest of Britain.

When the inhabitants of the British Isles were still living under the primitive communal system, the Roman Empire became the strongest slave-owning state in the Mediterranean.

It was the last and greatest of the civilizations of the ancient world.

In the middle of the first century B.C Romans waged a war against the Gaul (on the territory of France), who were Celtic tribes that lasted for long eight years. Julius Caesar was appointed Head of the Roman army, which was sent to conquer Gaul. In the course of his campaign, in 55 B.C., Caesar reached the Channel and saw white cliffs of the land of Celts who met the enemies bravely and were ready to fight against them. The Celts saw their ships approaching and rushed to attack the invaders shouting loudly. The Celts made a great impression on the Romans, who saw them for the first time in battle. On the occasion of the battle their hair and moustaches were dyed red and their legs and arms were painted blue to frighten the enemy. It was autumn, the army was tired and well-armed invincible Romans under one of the greatest generals of that time returned to Gaul planning to return in spring to conquer territory of the brave Celts. In spring of 54 B.C. Caesar again came to Britain, this time with the larger forces (25,000 men). The Celts fought bravely for their independence but they couldn’t stop well-armed and better-trained regular army of Romans. Some of the chiefs of the tribes submitted and promised to pay tribute to Rome. Caesar went back to Gaul to continue his conquest. The Celts never paid the tribute to Rome.

The real conquest of the isles took place about hundred years later, when in 44 A.D. a Roman army invaded Britain and conquered the Southeast. The Celts fought fiercely against the Romans who never managed to become masters of the whole territory, especially the hilly districts of the West and the Highlands. From time to time Celtic tribes from the North managed to raid the Roman part of the island, burn their villages, and drive off their cattle and sheep.

To defend their province the Romans kept the legions and built roads so that the army might march quickly. Bridges of stone were built to cross a river (some of these bridges can be found in Britain today). High wall was built in the North with forts to separate two parts of the country where life was so different. Behind the walls there lived civilised Romans, while on the other part there lived a primitive life people of the tribal society.

Roman society differed greatly from that of the Celts. It was a slave society divided into antagonistic classes. The main classes were the slaves and the slave-owners. Romans were coming from Rome year after year with their families to settle on the new land with nice nature and climate. The towns grew up as trade centres; the houses were built of stone, plastered and painted, with roofs made of large red tiles. Every Roman town had a drainage system and a good supply of water. The Roman towns were military stations surrounded by walls for defence, which were guarded by the Roman warriors. Besides, a high wall was built in the North to guard the province against the Picts and Scots who lived in the hills of Scotland. It was called "Hadrian's Wall" because it was built by command of the Emperor Hadrian. From one end of the wall to the other forts were built a mile apart and the Roman warriors could be seen marching up and down the whole length of the wall.

The Romans remained in Britain for about four centuries until the power of the Roman Empire began to weaken. The unproductive labour of the slaves led to the economic decline of the empire.

Early in the 5th c. the Roman legions were recalled from the island to defend the central provinces of the Roman Empire from the attacks of the barbarian tribes. They didn’t return to the island and the Celts were left alone in the land.

During the 5th century the Germanic tribes that were migrating all over the Europe looking for new territories came to the island.