What was the High German consonant shift?

In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or Second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development ( sound change) which took place in the southern dialects of the West Germanic in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the …

What is Germanic sound shift?

Germanic sound shifts are the phonological developments (sound changes) from the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) to Proto-Germanic, in Proto-Germanic itself, and in various Germanic subfamilies and languages.

What is Grimm’s law with examples?

Grimm’s Law shows the systematic relationship between consonants in Germanic languages and consonants in other Indo-European languages, stating what phonetic changes took place. It describes the pattern of two stages of sound changes, known as the German consonant shift and the High German consonant shift.

What is the second sound shift?

The Second or High German Consonant Shift is a sound change that took place in around AD 500 and which affected the southern or High German dialects. In these dialects initial, medial, and final West-Germanic */p, t, k/ shifted to fricatives and affricates.

How does the High German sound shift work?

One of the more peculiar aspects of the High German Sound Shift is that the voiced stops [b] and [g] are resistant to the change that affects the other voiced stop [d], namely devoicing. If the others were to undergo this same widespread change, we would expect [b] to become [p] and [g] to become [k] in all cases just like [d] became [t].

Is there a consonant shift in High German?

General description. It is also known as the “second Germanic” consonant shift to distinguish it from the ” (first) Germanic consonant shift” as defined by Grimm’s law and its refinement, Verner’s law . The High German consonant shift did not occur in a single movement, but rather as a series of waves over several centuries.

When did the sound change start in Germany?

The sound change probably started in the southernmost parts of the German-speaking land around the fifth century. It gradually restructured the phonetic systems of all of the southern regions and also some of the midland Germanic dialects.

What’s the difference between high and Low German?

There is a clean cut between the dialects in the south that underwent the Second Sound Shift (called High German) and those in the north that didn’t (called Low German). They are named as such because the southern part of the region is highland Germany while the northern part is lowland.