Two stages in the development of Proto-Germanic

Germanic proto language is supposed to have split from the Indo-European parent language between the 15* and 10 centuries BC. Germanic tribes constituted the westen branch of the Indo-European speech community.

A proto-language is reconstructed by methods of comparative reconstruction. The reconstructed system of phonemes and morphemes is based on sound correspondences between related phonemes in Germanic languages.

Reconstruction of a proto-language bases itself upon the oldest attested forms which are closer to the initial proto-language. Also, dialectal differentiation of later periods is taken into account.

W.Krause was the first to distinguish two layers in the evolution of Proto-Germanic. Krause introduced the principle of relative chronology which regulates the results of reconstruction in time.

Traditionally, Proto-Germanic refers to the kentum group of languages together with earlier groups as Greek, Italic, Illyrian, Tocharian, and Anatolian.

Early Proto-Germanic

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a) mobility of word stress;

b) similar behaviour of vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables, as well as monosyllabic and polysyllabic words;

c) realisation of IE o and a in PGmc a, and IE o:,o: inPGmc o:;

d) presence of a cluster ei and formation of clusters ul, ur, urn, un in place of IE syllabic l,r,m,n

e) three types of correlation in the system of plosives: weak voiced fricatives, weak voiced stops, strong voiceless aspirated stops.

Late Proto-Germanic

Late Proto-Germanic is characterised by a fixed expiratory stress falling on the first (root) syllable of a word.

a) fixed dynamic stress on the initial syllable;

b) different development of unstressed vowels, so that unstressed e turned into i, diphthongs showed a tendency towards monophthongization, long vowels displayed a tendency towards shortening;

c) the systems of short and long vowels either decreased their inventory (a three-phoneme system of short vowels in Proto-Gothic) or increased it (a five-phoneme system in other dialects);

d) the rise of a new phoneme e>',

e) lie tripartite correlation of voiceless fricatives, weak voiced fricatives (weak voiced stops), voiceless stops.

Classification of Proto-Germanic Languages Genetic, typological and areal methods

There are two basic types of linguistic classification: the genealogical classification and the typological classification ( based on a comparison of the formal similarity which exist between languages). The areal classification is transitional between the genealogical and typological classifications.

For all Indo-European languages the common ancestor was Proto-Indo-European which diverged into several proto-languages, among them Proto-Iranian, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Balto-Slavic, and some others.

First Consonant Shift (II cent. BC - II cent.AD) is also called Grimm’s Law or Rask’s Law. It differentiated the consonant system of Proto Germanic from consonant system of other Indo-European languages.