Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimms Law

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • all speech production happens in the mouth or throat – throat: larynx • most vowel sounds • produced by the continuous flow of air over the pharynx, in combination with certain configuration in the mouth • back to front: i/e/a/o/u • very variable over time and across regions – nose: middle ground between vowels and consonants • nasals = semivowels

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • all speech production happens in the mouth or throat – mouth: palate/teeth/lips • most consonants • by stopping and then releasing the flow of air • or narrowing the air stream: fricatives (f/v/z/sh/th) – spirant (/s/): air through teeth PHONEMES VOICED: UNVOICED: B P D T G C FRICATIVES: F V Z SH TH NASALS: LIQUIDS: M L N R CONTINUANTS: W Y LABIOVELARS: G w Kw ASPIRATES: BH DH GH Gw. H

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • voiced vs. unvoiced consonants – based on the use of the vocal chords (or not) • voiced: b/d/g/m/z • unvoiced: p/t/c/n/sh – classes of consonants • based on where the sound is formed in the mouth • labial (lips): b/p • dental (teeth and tongue): d/t • palatal (hard palate): g/c PHONEMES VOICED: UNVOICED: B P D T G C FRICATIVES: F V Z SH TH NASALS: LIQUIDS: M L N R CONTINUANTS: W Y LABIOVELARS: G w Kw ASPIRATES: BH DH GH Gw. H

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • Indo-European had most of these consonants – 18 total – but it was missing: z, sh – and it had a full set of aspirates: bh/dh/gh PHONEMES VOICED: UNVOICED: B P D T G C FRICATIVES: F V Z SH TH NASALS: LIQUIDS: M L • these are the consonants that all IE daughter languages inherit. CONTINUANTS: LABIOVELARS: N R W Y G w Kw ASPIRATES: BH DH GH

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • the Germanic branch of Indo-European – i. e. the way the IE language evolved as IE speakers moved into northern Europe • West Germanic: German, English, Dutch • East Germanic: now extinct • North Germanic (Scandinavian): Swedish, Danish, Norwegian

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • West Germanic – developed among Germanic speakers who lived between the Elbe and Oder Rivers

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law WEST GERMANS Elbe River Oder River

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • West Germanic – developed among Germanic speakers who lived between the Elbe and Oder Rivers – this is the mother tongue of modern German – also English, after the Angles and Saxons invade and settle England • East Germanic – developed among German speakers who lived east of the Oder River

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law EAST GERMANS Elbe River Oder River

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • West Germanic – developed among Germanic speakers who lived between the Elbe and Oder Rivers – this is the mother tongue of modern German – also English, after the Angles and Saxons invade and settle England • East Germanic – developed among German speakers who lived east of the Oder River – this branch of Germanic is now extinct • Northern Germanic – developed in Denmark, Norway and Sweden; and later Iceland

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • THE GREAT CONSONANT SHIFT – around 1000 -500 BCE, there occurred a significant shift in consonants that affected all Germanic languages • before Common Germanic had begun to break up – the change affected only consonants • primarily voiced, unvoiced, and aspirate consonants – it is unclear why this change happened • “languages drift” “It is often assumed that the change was due to contact with a non. Germanic population. The contact could have resulted from the migration of the Germanic tribes or from the penetration of a foreign population into Germanic territory. ” A. C. Baugh, A History of the English Language

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > PH (F) > B T > TH (F) > D P DENTALS: > VOICED T K/C when > KH/CH (H) >consonants G > K/C • GUTTURALS: the change began unvoiced (p/t/k) changed into aspirate consonants (ph/th/kh) – for some reason, our Germanic ancestors decided to start speaking breathily all the time • but then it was hard to tell what words meant, so the original aspirate consonants became voiced consonants • then the voiced consonants became unvoiced consonants, bringing all these consonants full circle

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • that this had happened was first discovered by Jacob Grimm (1785 -1863) – linguist, philologist and folklorist • as a student, he went about the German countryside, gathering evidence from locals of archaic words • language in the country often retains archaic constructions lost in the city – 1822: Grimm published evidence of the Great Consonant Shift • henceforth, “Grimm’s Law” – at the same time he and his brother Wilhelm published “Grimms’ Fairy Tales” – he also oversaw the creation of a German

Latin and Greek Elements in English Grimm’s Law • now let’s look at Grimm’s Law: – by examining words that at first don’t look like cognates but, when you understand Grimm’s Law, you can see they are! • we’ll do this by looking at Latin/Greek words which haven’t undergone the Great Consonant Shift and comparing them to their English cognates – remember that vowels (and semi-vowels) are unstable and father very likely to change — focus only on the consonants – e. g. Latin pater = English _____? • Latin p = English f • Latin t = English th

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C > TH (F) ________ > KH/CH (H) > G GEN(US) “race, family” genus, genesis, genetic KIN K_N > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C > TH (F) ________ > KH/CH (H) > G GEL(I)D(US) “frozen” gelid, congeal, Jell-O CCOLD _ LD > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C > TH (F) > __________ > KH/CH (H) > G CHOL(OS) “bile” cholera, melancholy GGALL _ L(L) > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C > TH (F) > __________ > KH/CH (H) > G HOST(IS) “stranger” host, hostile, hostel/hotel GUEST G _ ST > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > PH (F) P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C VOICED > > B _______ TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G DA(CTYLOS) “digit, finger, extremity” dactylic, pterodactyl TOE T__ > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > PH (F) P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C VOICED > > B _______ TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G D(UO) “pair, both” duo, dual, duplicate TWO T __ > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C VOICED PH (F) > B _________ > TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G TH(EMA) “act, accomplish” theme, synthesis, antithesis DO D_ > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P P _________ T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: > T K/C VOICED PH (F) > > B TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G POL(Y) “many, much” polygon, polygamy FULL FILL F_LL > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > T DENTALS: > GUTTURALS: PH (F) > B _________ P D VOICED T K/C > TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G FER(O) “carry” fertile, transfer, refer BEAR B__R > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > T DENTALS: > GUTTURALS: PH (F) > B _________ P D VOICED T K/C > TH (F) ________ > KH/CH (H) > G FRAG(ILIS) “crush, destroy” fragile, fragment, fracture BREAK BR__K > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: P > _________ T PH (F) ___________ T K/C VOICED > > B TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G PISC(ES) “sea creature” Pisces, piscary FISH F_SH > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > PH (F) P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C VOICED > > B _______ TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G DOM(US) “house” domestic, domicile, dome T_M TIM(BER) TAME (BER) T_ME > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > D > T GUTTURALS: T K/C PH (F) > B _________ P DENTALS: VOICED > TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G FER(VO) “become hot” fervid, effervescent BUR(N) B_R(N) > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C > TH (F) ________ > KH/CH (H) > G GRAN(US) “grain” granary, granola COR(N) C_R(N) > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T > ___________ T K/C TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G CORN(U) “antler” unicorn, cornet HOR(N) H_R(N) > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: P > PH (F) _________ T T K/C VOICED > > B _______ TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G DENT(ES) “molar, incisor” dentist, dentition, indent TEETH T__TH > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > VOICED PH (F) > B P T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: T K/C > TH (F) ________ > KH/CH (H) > G AG(E)R “field” agriculture, agronomy ACR(E) _CR_ > K/C >

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: P > PH (F) _________ T T K/C VOICED > > B TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G TON(ITUS) “loud noise” intone, astonish, detonate THUN(DER) TH_N(DER) > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P > D > T GUTTURALS: T K/C PH (F) > B _________ P DENTALS: VOICED > TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G FLO(RA) “flower” florid, florist, flourescent BLOOM BL__(M) > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P P _________ > GUTTURALS: PH (F) T DENTALS: D > T K/C VOICED > > B TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G AP(O)- “away from” apostate, apostrophe, apostle OFF OF _F > > K/C

Latin and Greek Elements in English UNVOICEDGrimm’s ASPIRATE Law UNVOICED LABIALS: > P P _________ T DENTALS: D > GUTTURALS: > T K/C VOICED PH (F) > > B TH (F) > KH/CH (H) > G PR(O)- “in place of, in behalf of” progress, proceed, pro FOR F_R > > K/C