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Grimm's law: Difference between revisions
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'''Grimm's law''' | '''Grimm's law''' | ||
* Jacob Grimm, of the "Brothers Grimm" | * from Jacob Grimm, of the "Brothers Grimm" | ||
* a "law" or rule for sound changes from original Proto-Indo-European language to modern descendent languages | |||
[[Category:World History]] | [[Category:World History]] | ||
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[[category:History of language]] | [[category:History of language]] | ||
[[category:History of English]] | [[category:History of English]] | ||
== Brothers Grimm == | |||
* collected and published old or traditional Germanic fairy tales and stories | |||
** a collector of traditional stories is called a "folklorist" | |||
* Wilhelm & Jacob Grimm wrote "Grimms' Fairy Tales" | |||
== Jacob Grimm == | |||
* Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785–1863) | |||
** started a comprehensive German dictionary | |||
** wrote treatise on German mythology | |||
** his observations on "sound shifts" is considered the key development into the study of linguistics | |||
=== Unification of Germany === | |||
* Grimm was concerned with development of a common German identity | |||
** so his work was purposefully aimed at creating that identity | |||
** the movement is called "German nationalism" for the creation of a German "nation" | |||
* until the late 19th century, Germany was divided into states, principalities and subordinate regions to other European powers | |||
** much of southern Germany was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire | |||
** and eastern Germany was either part of or owned parts of Poland and Bohemia (modern Czech and Slovakia) | |||
** in the 18th century, the northern German kingdom of Prussia was formed in 1701 | |||
** following the defeat of Napoleon, the "German Confederation" was formed (1815) | |||
*** was a loose joining of 39 independent states, with the Emperor of Austria as its president | |||
** in 1866, Prussia defeated the Austrians and created a separate North German Confederation | |||
** following the German defeat of France in 1870 ("Franco-Prussian War"), the German Empire was declared (1871) | |||
*** the King of Prussia, William I was declared Kaiser (from "Caesar") with Berlin as its capital | |||
== Grimm's law == | |||
* Jacob Grimm was not the first to notice the sound shifts in related European languages | |||
** however, he was the first to comprehensibly track them | |||
** he thus constructed a larger theory and set of rules governing those shifts | |||
* Grimm observed three "phases" of sound changes (called by linguists, a "chain shift") | |||
** the sound shifts are related to how a sound is made by breath and tongue placement | |||
* Grimm's law concerns "mechanics" of speech | |||
** i.e., the way the sound is formed | |||
** for example, | |||
*** "P" is spoken by closing the lips and breathing out | |||
*** "F" is spoken by closing the top front teeth upon the bottom lip (while not closing the top lip) | |||
[[File:Indo-European Language Family Branches in Eurasia.png|thumb|Indo-European Language Family Branches in Eurasia|alt=Indo-European Language Family Branches in Eurasia.png]] | |||
==Indo-European languages == | |||
* the shifts that Grimm tracked are derived from a common origin language, proto-Indo-European ('''PIE''') | |||
** "proto" means original or precursor (came before) as in a "prototype" | |||
* the PIE people started in central Eurasia, likely just north of the Black and Caspian seas, starting approx. 3,000 BC | |||
** they were nomadic herders & raiders | |||
** having domesticated horses they were highly mobile and successful at war | |||
** PIE was probably a common language in those areas between 4500 and 2500 BC | |||
* as the original PIE speakers spread across Eurasia the languages they spoke became regionalized | |||
** i.e., as they spread apart, they started pronouncing words differently from one another | |||
* note: English is a Germanic language | |||
** Old English was entirely Germanic | |||
** Middle and Modern English are from the combination of Old English with French, Latin & Greek | |||
* see [[Indo-European word origins]] | |||
== Cognates == | |||
* "cognate" means "related" or "connected" | |||
* as an adjective, "cognate" indicates that a word is related to or shifted from another word | |||
** as in, "The English word 'Father' is cognate with the Latin word 'Pater'" | |||
* as a noun cognate means something related, and in linguistics, a word that is related to another word | |||
** as in, "The English word 'Father is a cognate to the Latin word 'Pater'" | |||
* the below examples show: | |||
** a modern English word | |||
** it's origin in PIE (the proto-Indo-European language) | |||
** the Latin cognate from the PIE original | |||
** the German cognate, from which English was derived | |||
=== "P" to "F" sound === | |||
* '''father''' | |||
** PIE: ''phter'' | |||
** Latin: ''pater'' | |||
** proto-Germanic: ''fader'' | |||
Click EXPAND for more "P" to "F" sound shifts | |||
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"> | |||
* '''foot''' | |||
** PIE: ''pods'' | |||
** Greek: ''pous'' | |||
** Latin: ''ped'' | |||
** proto Germanic: ''fot'' (pronounced "fott") | |||
* '''fish''' | |||
** PIE: ''pisk'' | |||
** Latin: ''pisces'' | |||
** proto-Germanic: ''fiskaz'' | |||
* '''fire''' | |||
** PIE: ''paewr'' | |||
** Latin: ''pyre'' | |||
** proto-Germanic: ''fur'' | |||
</div> | |||
=== "D" to "T" sound === | |||
* '''ten''' | |||
** PIE: ''dekmt'' | |||
** Latin: ''decim'' (in Latin the "C" is pronounced like a hard "K", so "decim" is pronounced "dekim" | |||
** prot-Germanic: ''tehun'' | |||
=== "K" to "Hw" sound === | |||
* '''who''' | |||
** PIE: ''kwo'' | |||
** Latin: ''quid'' | |||
** proto-Germanic: ''hwas'' | |||
* '''what''' | |||
** PIE: ''*kʷód'' or ''kwo'' | |||
** Latin: ''quod'' | |||
** proto-Germanic: ''hwat'' | |||
=== "T" to "Th" sound=== | |||
* '''three''' (soft "Th") | |||
* PIE: ''tryes'' (hard "T") | |||
* Latin: ''tres'' | |||
* proto-Germanic: ''thrijiz'' | |||
=== "B" to "P" sound=== | |||
* '''apple''' | |||
** PIE: ''h₂ébōl'' or ''ab(e)l'' (w/ "B" sound) | |||
** Latin: n/a (''pommum'') | |||
** proto-Germanic: ''ap(a)laz'' | |||
=== "Bh" to "B" sound=== | |||
* = aspirated "Bh" or soft "beh" to hard "B" | |||
* '''brother''' | |||
** PIE: ''bʰréh₂tēr'' (likely pronounced "''Bhe-re-ter''") | |||
** Latin: ''frater'' ("Br" to "Fr" shift) | |||
** proto-Germanic: brothar | |||
=== "Dh" to "D" sound=== | |||
* aspirated "Dh" or soft "deh" to hard "D" | |||
** '''mead''' (a drink made of honey) | |||
*** PIE: médʰu (likely pronounced "''mehd-hoo''") | |||
*** Latin: ''mel'' | |||
*** proto-Germanic: meduz | |||
=== "Gh" to "G" sound=== | |||
* '''goose''' | |||
* aspirated "Gh" or soft-"geh" to hard "G" | |||
** PIE: ǵʰans- | |||
** Latin: ''anser'' or ''hanser'' | |||
** prot-Germanic: ''gans'' (with hard "G" sound) | |||
=== "Gw" to "Kw" sound === | |||
* '''quick''' | |||
** PIE: gʷih₃wós (or "alive") | |||
** Latin: ''vita'' | |||
** proto-German: ''kwi(k)waz'' | |||