3.2. Changes of Consonants

3.2.1. The First Consonant Shift, or Grimm’s Law

By the First Consonant Shift (Grimm’s Law) we mean a number of consonant changes which date back to the II millennium BC. By the year 500 BC the sound changes must have come to a close. They had ended before the Germanic tribes came in touch with the Romans because not any word borrowed from Latin was subject to those changes in Germanic languages. This law expresses regular correspondences between consonants of Germanic and those of other Indo-European languages.

As can be seen from Table 1.2, correspondences between Indo-European (non-Germanic) and Germanic consonants may be grouped under three categories.

Table 1.2

Grimm’s Law

ACT I

Indo-European voiceless stops (p, t, k) correspond to Germanic voiceless fricatives (f, þ, h).

IE	PG	EXAMPLES
Voiceless stops	Voiceless fricatives
		IE	Germ
p	f	Snsk p áñcā(n) R пять Snsk pitár Gr patēr Snsk nápāt L nepōs	Goth fimf E five Germ Vater E father Germ neffe E nephew
t	þ	Snsk tri, travas L trēs ‘three’ Gr treis R три Snsk tad R тот Toch matar	O Icel þrir Goth þreis [θri:s] E three OE ðæt Goth þata E mother
k	h	Snsk katarás Ukr котрий Hit kuis L quis Hit kuit R что L quid Toch kant	Goth hwaþar E whether E who OE hwæt E hundred Goth hund

ACT II

Indo-European voiced stops (b, d, g) correspond to Germanic voiceless stops (p, t, k).

IE	PG	EXAMPLES
Voiced stops	Voiceless stops
		IE		Germ
b	p	Lith dubús R болото	E deep Goth diups E pool
d	t	Gr dyo L duo R два Sanskr. dru, dāru R дерево	E two Goth twai O Icel tréir Goth triu E tree
g	k	Snsk yuga L jugum R иго Snsk jắnu L genu	O Icel ok Goth juk E yoke Goth kniu E knee

ACT III

Indo-European voiced aspirated stops (bh, dh, gh) correspond to Germanic voiced stops without aspiration (b, d, g).

IE	PG	EXAMPLES
Voiced aspirated stops	Voiced stops without aspiration
		IE	Germ
bh	b	Snsk bhárāmi Russ. беру Snsk nábhas Gr nephos R небо		Goth bairan ['beran] E bear OE nifel OHG nebul OS nebal
dh	d	Snsk madha R Мед Snsk mádhyas L medius Snsk dhrsnóti Gr thrasýs R дерзнуть		OE medu Goth midjis E middle Goth (ga)dars OE dear(r ) N. djerv E dare
gh	g	Snsk stighnomi Gr steikho Snsk ghagh		Germ steigen E giggle

Some features of the First Consonants Shift require a special commentary.

• The correspondence IE b > Germ. p in Act 2 is scarcely illustrated as compared to other consonants changes due to the fact that the consonant p is very rare in native Germanic words [Rastorgueva].

• Voiced aspirated stops bh, dh, gh are only found in Sanskrit, whereas in the other Indo-European (non-Germanic) languages either voiceless fricatives (as in Latin and Greek) or unaspirated voiced stops (as in Russian) are used.

Grimm’s Law came to be the first achievement of comparative-historical linguistics. However, still debatable is the time of the Shift, its reasons, phonological essence, phonetic mechanism, connection with similar processes in the subsequent history of Germanic languages.

Grimm’s Law apparently reflects historical processes caused by the evolution of the structure of the Proto-Indo-European languages; it is not restricted by the Germanic languages only [Plotkin].