Gavin Howe
Verner's Law and Grimm's Law are two of the most famous sound laws in historical linguistics. They describe the correspondences between the sounds of Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic. Verner's Law, formulated by Karl Verner and first published in 1877, explains the exceptions to Grimm's Law. It describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby consonants that would usually have been voiceless fricatives became voiced fricatives when between voiced sounds if the preceding vowel was unaccented in Proto-Indo-European. The question of which law came first has been a subject of debate, with the standard account assuming that Grimm's Law came first, but some scholars challenging this view.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Verner's Law |
| Formulated By | Karl Verner |
| First Published | 1877 |
| Nature | A historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language |
| Change | Voiceless fricatives became voiced fricatives |
| Exceptions | Proto-Indo-European */k/ |
| Chronology | After Grimm's Law (standard account) |
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What You'll Learn
Verner's Law and the First Sound Shift
Verner's Law and Grimm's Law are possibly the two most famous sound laws in historical linguistics. Verner's Law was formulated by Danish linguist Karl Verner in 1875 and published in 1877. It is a modification of Grimm's Law, which states that Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ regularly changed into Proto-Germanic *f (bilabial fricative [ɸ]), *þ (dental fricative [θ]), *h (velar fricative [x]), and *hʷ (labio-velar fricative [xw]).
Verner's Law describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language, whereby consonants that would usually have been the voiceless fricatives *f, *þ, *s, *h, *hʷ, following an unstressed syllable, became the voiced fricatives *β, *ð, *z, *ɣ, *ɣʷ. This change in pronunciation described by Verner's Law must have occurred before the shift of stress to the first syllable, as the voicing of the new consonant in Proto-Germanic is conditioned by which syllable is stressed in Proto-Indo-European.
The chronological ordering of Verner's Law and Grimm's Law has been a subject of debate among linguists. Some argue that Grimm's Law came first, followed by Verner's Law, while others, like Professor Kortlandt of Leyden University, propose the opposite sequence. The standard account and consensus in the field of Indo-European linguistics favor the former sequence, where Grimm's Law precedes Verner's Law.
The relative chronology of these sound laws has implications for the shape and development of the Proto-Germanic language. If Verner's Law preceded Grimm's Law, the voicing of Proto-Indo-European *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ would have resulted in *b, *d, *g, and *gʷ, matching the existing Proto-Indo-European voiced stops. However, the consonants affected by Verner's Law merged with the descendants of the Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirate stops, indicating that Grimm's Law likely occurred first.
In conclusion, Verner's Law and the First Sound Shift are closely related concepts in historical linguistics. Verner's Law describes a sound change that modifies the outcomes of Grimm's Law, and the debate about their relative chronology continues to engage linguists.
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Verner's Law as an exception to Grimm's Law
Verner's Law and Grimm's Law are possibly the two most famous sound laws in historical linguistics. They describe correspondences between the sounds of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and Proto-Germanic (PGmc).
Grimm's Law, formulated in the early nineteenth century, describes how the Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ changed into Proto-Germanic *f (bilabial fricative [ɸ]), *þ (dental fricative [θ]), *h (velar fricative [x]), and *hʷ (labio-velar fricative [xw]).
Verner's Law, formulated by Karl Verner and first published in 1877, describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language. It states that consonants that would usually have been the voiceless fricatives *f, *þ, *s, *h, *hʷ, following an unstressed syllable, became the voiced fricatives *β, *ð, *z, *ɣ, *ɣʷ.
The law was formulated as an exception to Grimm's Law, accounting for apparent irregularities in the Germanic languages. It states that non-initial voiceless fricatives in Proto-Germanic occurring as a result of Grimm's Law became voiced fricatives if the previous syllable had been unstressed in Proto-Indo-European.
The question of which law came first is a matter of debate in historical linguistics. Until the 1980s, it was assumed that Verner's Law followed Grimm's Law, and this remains the standard account. However, some scholars have argued that Verner's Law may have operated before Grimm's Law, which would have had significant implications for the development of the Proto-Germanic language.
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The role of accent and stress in linguistic change
The relative chronology of Grimm's Law and Verner's Law is a subject of debate in historical linguistics. Handbooks like Ringe (2006) suggest that Grimm's Law preceded Verner's Law, but this is not a universally accepted fact. The laws describe the correspondences between the sounds of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and Proto-Germanic (PGmc).
Verner's Law, formulated by Karl Verner and first published in 1877, describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language. It states that consonants that would typically be voiceless fricatives following an unstressed syllable became voiced fricatives. This change must have occurred before the shift of stress to the first syllable in Proto-Germanic. The law accounts for the development of Proto-Germanic *z from Proto-Indo-European *s in some words, resulting in the alternation of *s and *r in some inflectional paradigms.
Grimm's Law, formulated earlier in the nineteenth century, describes how Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops regularly changed into Proto-Germanic fricatives. However, Verner's Law provides a modification that accommodates some exceptions to Grimm's Law. It states that non-initial voiceless fricatives in Proto-Germanic resulting from Grimm's Law became voiced fricatives if the previous syllable had been unstressed in Proto-Indo-European.
Stress, or accent, in linguistics refers to the relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word or a word in a phrase or sentence. This emphasis is often characterized by increased loudness, vowel length, full articulation of the vowel, and changes in tone. The terms stress and accent are sometimes used interchangeably, but they can also be distinguished. For example, when emphasis is achieved through pitch alone, it is called a pitch accent, while stress refers to a combination of intensified properties, like loudness, vowel length, and pitch.
In English, stress is most noticeable on focused or accented words. Stressed syllables are typically louder and longer, and they may also exhibit variations in fundamental frequency. Nuclear stress refers to the main stress within a sentence, often found on the last stressed word. Stress "deafness" has been observed in some languages, such as Persian, where accent locations arise postlexically, resulting in a lack of strict stress.
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The voicing of Proto-Indo-European consonants
The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) had a unique sound system, which diverged as the language broke up, leading to the emergence of various sound laws associated with the daughter Indo-European languages. One notable change is the palatalization that produced the satem languages, along with the associated ruki sound law.
Bartholomae's law in Indo-Iranian and Sievers' law in Proto-Germanic are also notable, though it is unclear if they were common Indo-European features. The development of labiovelars into labial consonants in some Italic and Celtic branches, resulting in "p-Celtic" and "q-Celtic" languages, is another example of the evolution of PIE.
Now, onto the main topic: the voicing of Proto-Indo-European consonants as described by Verner's Law. Formulated by Karl Verner and published in 1877, Verner's Law explains a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language. It describes how consonants that would typically be voiceless fricatives became voiced fricatives when they occurred after an unstressed syllable. Specifically, the voiceless fricatives *f, *þ, *s, *h, and *hʷ changed into the voiced fricatives *β, *ð, *z, *ɣ, and *ɣʷ.
This change in pronunciation described by Verner's Law must have occurred before the shift of stress to the first syllable. The voicing of the new consonant in Proto-Germanic depended on which syllable was stressed in Proto-Indo-European. However, as the syllabic stress shifted, it erased the conditioning environment, making the variation between voiceless fricatives and their voiced counterparts seem arbitrary.
The chronology of Verner's Law and Grimm's Law has been a subject of debate. While it was initially assumed that Grimm's Law came first, followed by Verner's Law as a modification, this sequencing is not universally accepted. The actual sound changes that resulted in the correspondences between PIE and Proto-Germanic are another matter. If Verner's Law predated Grimm's Law, one would expect the voicing of PIE *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ to produce *b, *d, *g, and *gʷ, merging with the existing PIE voiced stops. However, the consonants affected by Verner's Law merged with the descendants of the PIE voiced aspirated stops, not the plain voiced stops. This has led to the proposal of aspiration in the voiceless stops of the dialect of Indo-European that gave rise to Proto-Germanic.
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The chronological order of sound changes
According to Grimm's Law, Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ changed into Proto-Germanic *f (bilabial fricative [ɸ]), *þ (dental fricative [θ]), *h (velar fricative [x]), and *hʷ (labio-velar fricative [xw]). However, Verner's Law, formulated by Karl Verner and published in 1877, explains exceptions to Grimm's Law. It states that non-initial voiceless fricatives in Proto-Germanic resulting from Grimm's Law became voiced fricatives if the previous syllable had been unstressed in Proto-Indo-European.
The consensus among linguists is that Grimm's Law occurred before Verner's Law. This is based on the understanding that Verner's Law turns voiceless fricatives into voiced fricatives, which would not have been possible if Verner's Law had preceded Grimm's Law. However, some linguists, such as Professor Kortlandt, propose an alternative chronology, suggesting that Verner's Law came first.
The relative chronology of these sound changes has implications for understanding the shape and development of the Proto-Germanic language. If Verner's Law preceded Grimm's Law, it would have affected the voicing of Proto-Indo-European *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ, resulting in different outcomes than those observed. Nonetheless, the standard account maintains that Grimm's Law established the foundational sound shifts, with Verner's Law refining these shifts by accounting for variations due to syllable stress.
While the exact chronological order of these sound changes may be challenging to determine conclusively, the interplay between Grimm's Law and Verner's Law highlights the complex nature of language evolution and the role of accent and syllable stress in linguistic change.
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Frequently asked questions
Grimm's Law and Verner's Law are possibly the two most famous sound laws in historical linguistics. Grimm's Law describes how the Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops *p, *t, *k, and *kʷ regularly changed into Proto-Germanic *f (bilabial fricative [ɸ]), *þ (dental fricative [θ]), *h (velar fricative [x]), and *hʷ (labio-velar fricative [xw]). Verner's Law describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby consonants that would usually have been the voiceless fricatives *f, *þ, *s, *h, *hʷ, following an unstressed syllable, became the voiced fricatives *β, *ð, *z, *ɣ, *ɣʷ.
The consensus is that Grimm's Law occurs before Verner's Law. However, there are different views on the relative chronology of the sound changes described by these laws, and it is not easy to work out.
In Old English, the word for "father" was *ph₂tḗr. The accent was on the second syllable. The *t became *þ via Grimm’s Law. But this time, the PIE accent did not precede the consonant. Therefore, Verner’s Law kicked in, and the voiceless *þ became the voiced *ð (the “th” in “this”), which later became a simple *d in many dialects.
Verner's Law provided further evidence for the important claim of 19th-century linguists that phonetic laws have no exceptions and proved to be a decisive influence in establishing the direction taken by the Neogrammarian school of historical linguistics.
