Grimm’s law and Verner’s law

Symbols:

S        =          stop

F        =          fricative

V        =          voice (+ or -)

A        =          aspiration

Stages:

1. Voiced aspirated stops                                                  become voiced fricatives

+S (A) +V	ex	->	Gmc +F +V	ex
bh	bhreg-		β	βreg-
dh	dhwer-		ð	ðwer-
gh	ghosti-		γ	γosti-

2. Voiceless stops                                                  become voiceless fricatives

+S –V	ex		Gmc +F –V	ex
p	pisk		f
t	ten gnti γosti-		θ	θen gnθi γosti-
k	kerd		x [-> h]	xerd -> herd

Remember that a preceding /s/ blocks Grimm’s law.

3. Verner’s law voices a fricative, if

• surrounded by voiced sounds
• preceded by an unaccented vowel

+F –V	ex		+F +V	ex
f			β
θ	gnθi		ð	gnði
x			γ
s			z [-> r]	cf was/were lose/forlorn

4. Voiced stops                                                  become voiceless stops

+S +V	ex		+S +V	ex
b	abel		p	apel [apple]
d	ed herd		t	et [eat] hert [heart]
g	gene gnði βreg		k	kene [kin] knði βrek

5. Voiced fricatives                                                       become voiced stops

+F +V	ex		+S +V	ex
β	βrek		b	brek [break]
ð	ðwer knði		d	dwer [door] kndi [kind]
γ	γosti		g	gosti [guest]