LECTURE 1

An Introduction to the History of the English Language .

1. The subject-matter of History of English.
2. The information about the Germanic and Roman tribes.
3. Grimm’s Law. Verner’s Law.
4. Classification of Germanic Languages
5. Modern Germanic Languages

History of the English language is one of the fundamental courses forming the linguistic
background of a specialist in philology. In studying the English language of today we are faced
with a number of peculiarities which appear unintelligible from the modern point of view. These
are found both in vocabulary and in the phonetic and grammatical structure of the language.
We cannot account for them from the point of view of contemporary English; we can
only suppose that they are not a matter of chance and there must be some cause behind them.
These causes belong to a more or less remote past and they can only be discovered by going into
the history of the English language.
With adequate tools of investigation we still can trace all the changes within the language
as a system. So the aim of the course is the investigation of the development of the English
Language.
The subject matter of our course is the changing nature of the language through more
than 15 hundred years of its existence. It studies the rise and development of English, its
structure and peculiarities in the old days, its similarity to other languages of the same family and
its unique specific features.
It starts with a view at the beginnings of the language, originally the dialects of a
comparatively small number of related tribes that migrated from the continent onto the British
Isles, the dialects of the Indo-European family – synthetic inflected language with a well-
developed system of noun forms, a rather poorly represented system of verbal categories, with
free word order and a vocabulary that consisted almost entirely of words of native origin. In
phonology there was a strict subdivision of vowels into long and short, comparatively few
diphthongs and an undeveloped system of consonants.
Mighty factors influenced the language converting it into the mainly analytical language
of today, with scarcity of nominal forms and a verbal system that much outweighs the systems of
many other European languages. Its vowel system is rich, its vocabulary is enormous. Its spelling
system is rather confusing.
The purpose of our subject is a systematic study of the language development from the
earliest time to the present day. Such study enables the students to acquire a more profound
understanding of the language of today. Tasks^
- to state the facts and to find the causal ties between them;
- to explain the peculiarities of the modern language;
- to be able to explain the discrepancies;
- to analyse the systematic changes.
Study of the history of a concrete language is based on applying general principles of
linguistics to the language in question. Foundations of our science are studied in introduction to
linguistics (the general notions and categories).
To know the origin of the English language we should remember the introduction to
special philology which gave the information about ancient Germanic languages and their
structure.
It has been estimated that there are more than 5,700 distinct languages to be found
in the world to-day, and all these fall into linguistic groups which are part of linguistic families
which may have appeared in different parts of the globe simultaneously.
It should be borne in mind that when people speak of linguistic families they do not use
the term "family" in the genetic sense of the word. The fact that people speak the same, or
related, languages does not mean that there is a link of race or blood. It is therefore completely
unscientific to establish any connection between racial origin and language.
It is often possible to show that languages are historically or genetically related, i.e. they
descend from a common source, but when it comes to races we have no such evidence. We
cannot say, for instance, that the Mongolian race means the same as the Mongolian languages.
Furthermore, it is quite probable that no such thing as an Indo-European race ever existed. In the
course of the migrations of ancient peoples, numerous linguistic and racial mixtures took place.
The linguistic map of the world shows that many non-Indo-European peoples of Europe and
Asia abandoned their own languages and adopted the Indo-European. The Basque language,
which is spoken in the north of Spain and the south of France, resisted the assimilation of Indo-
European in the past and is not genetically related to the Indo-European languages. On the other
hand there is no racial difference between the Estonians, for instance, who speak a Finno-Ugric
language, and the Lets, who speak a language of Indo-European origin.
This outline history covers the main events in the historical development
of the English language: the history of its phonetic structure and spelling, the
evolution of its grammatical system, the growth of its vocabulary, and also the
changing historical conditions of English speaking communities relevant to
language history. Through learning the history of the English language the student achieves a
variety of aims, both theoretical and practical. The history of the language is of considerable
interest to all students of English, since the English language of today reflects many centuries of
development. This is no less true of a foreign language. Therefore one of the aims of this course
is to provide the student with a knowledge of linguistic history sufficient to account for the
principal features of present day English. In studying the English language of to-day, we are
faced with a number of peculiarities which appear unintelligible from the modern point of view.
These are found both in the vocabulary and in the phonetic and grammatical structure of the
language. Let us mention a few of them..
In the sphere of vocabulary there is considerable likeness between English
and German. Thus, for examlce: the German for Summer is Sommer, foot, is
Fuβ, or for long is lang. On the other hand, in certain cases English has something in common
with French, as the following examples will show: English outumn French automne, rever-
riviere, change-changer. Similar facts are also found in the phonetic structure of the language,
or, more precisely, in the relation between pronunciation and spelling. Here, too, we are faced
with a series of phenomena which cannot be explained from the modern point of view. Why, for
instance does the spelling of the words light, daughter, know, gnaw contain letters which do not
indicate any sound? Why does the spelling ea indicate different sounds in the words speak,
great, bear, heard, heart? Why is the sound [ Λ ] spelt u in sun, cut, butter, but o in love, son,
brother ?The History of English sounds and spelling accounts for these and similar peculiarities.
Without going into details it will suffice to say that at the time when Latin characters were first
used in Britain (7 th c) writing was phonetic : the letters stood, roughly, for the same sounds as in
Latin. Later, especially after the introduction of printing in the 15 th c, the written form of the
word became fixed,while the sounds continued to change.
This resulted in a growing discrepancy (несоответствие, различие) between letter and
sound and in the modern peculiar use of Latin letters in English Finally let us turn to grammar.
Why do the nouns man, food, mouse as against most Modern English Nouns form their plural
by change of the root vowel? Why do the verbs can, may, will take no s in the 3 rd person
singular present indicative? All these phenomena are traced back to a distant past and they can
not be accounted for without a study of language history. Thus, the purpose of our subject is a
systematic study of the language’s development from the earliest times to the present day. Such
study enables the student to acquire a more profound understanding of the language of today.
Besides, history of English is an important subsidiary discipline for history of England and of
English literature. More over, one more aim of this course is to provide the student of English
with a wider philological outlook. The history of English language show the place of English in
the linguistic world, it reveals its ties and contacts with other related and unrelated languages.
History of the English language is connected with the other disciplines. It is based on the History
of England, studying the development of the language in connection with the concrete conditions
in which the English people lived in the
several periods of their history. It is also connected with the disciplines studying
present day English, via, theoretical phonetics, theoretical grammar, and
lexicology. It shows phonetic, grammatical, and lexical phenomena as they
developed, and states the origins of the present day system.
In studying the history of a language we are faced with a number of
problems concerning the driving forces or causes of changes in the language.
These causes can apparently be of two kinds: external and internal. In the first
case, language is influenced by factors lying outside it, or extra linguistic factors. Such historic
events as social changes, wars, conquests, migrations, cultural contacts, and the like can hardly
fail to influence a language, more especially its vocabulary . On other hand, many changes occur
in the history of language which cannot be traced to any extra linguistic causes: the driving
power in such cases is within the language itself. Most changes in the phonetic structure of a
language, and also in its grammatical structure, are due to eternal causes. These aspects of
external and internal history determine the linguistic situation and affect the evolution of the
language.
A language can be considered from different angles. In studying Modern
English (Mod E) we regard the language as fixed in time and describe each
linguistic level-phonetics, grammar or lexis-synchronically, to no account of the
origin of present day features or their tendencies to changes. The synchronic
approach can be contrasted to the diachronic. When considered diachronically,
every linguistic fact is interpreted as a stage or step in the never ending evolution of language.
We concern with our lecture on this way.

Every living language changes through time. It is natural that no records

of linguistic changes have ever been kept, as most changes pass unnoticed by
contemporaries.
Certain information about the early stages of English and Germanic history is to be found
in the works of ancient historians and geographers, especially Roman. They contain descriptions
of Germanic tribes, personal names and place names. Some data are also provided by early
borrowings from Germanic made by other languages, e.g. the Finnish and the Baltic languages.
But the bulk of our knowledge comes from scientific study of extant texts.
The first inhabitants of the British Isles were Celts – Britons and Gaels (family). In 55
BC the Romans under Julius Caesar landed in Britain. Permanent Roman conquest began only in
43 AD by the emperor Claudius. The Romans subdued and colonized the country, established a
lot of military camps, paved roads – completely transformed the aspect of the [Link] became
a Roman province in the 4th century the Christianity spread in Britain. In 410 the Roman legions
were recalled from Britain to defend Italy from the advancing Goths under Alaric.
The English language is to a certain extent rare in the sense that we actually can find a
starting point of its development. Its beginning can be traced back to the year 449, when coming
to help their Celtic ally, Vortigern, two Germanic chieftains, Hengist and Horsa, (Jutes) brought
their belligerent tribesmen to the Isles. The British resistance was stiff and the advance was
brought to a standstill for nearly 50 years by a great battle won at Mount Badon. The inhabitants
asked the Romans for help, but the Romans were too busy with their own battles with Germanic
Barbarians. Historians attribute the resistance to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table. 12 battles are mentioned in Latin chronicles. So that period was the starting point of the
English language.

The conquerors settled in Britain in the following way. The Angles occupied most of the
territory north of the Thames; the Saxons – the territory south of the Thames; the jutes settled in
Kent and in the isle of Wight.

The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into
what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native
English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about
half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be,
strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around
1100. In the 9th and 10th Century invaders from Scandinavia (the Vikings) occupied a largу part
of northern and easter*n England. They introduced many everyday words in modern English.
Many place names end in -"by",from their word for village (Whitby, Grimsby, Formby etc).
Some words we use today fromthe Vikings are sky, leg, call, take, dirt, law, are, take, cut, both,
ill, ugly, egg, sister,window and get

The Western regions were held by the Britons: Cornwall was conquered in the 9 th,
Strathclyde in the 11th and Wales in the 13th century.

The Scottish Highlands where neither Romans nor Teutons had penetrated were inhabited
by Picts and Scots. Ireland also remained Celtic until the 12 th century.

The Old English period (written testimonies since 700) lasted till 1066 when the Norman
leader William the Conqueror made a turn in the history of the country.

In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded
and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of
French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For
a period there was a kind of linguistic class
division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke
French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but
with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of
the great poet Chaucer (1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to
understand today.
That was the beginning of the Middle English period. It lasted until 1475 (the
introduction of print) or 1485 - the end of the war of Roses which marked the decay of feudalism
and the rise of capitalism. Modern English period is subdivided into Early (1660) and Late.

Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden anddistinct change in pronunciation (the
Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16 th
century the
British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of
Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention
of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper
and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and
grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became
the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

C Years Historical Event Linguistic Literature

difference

Old 449 – 1066 Anglo-Saxon Henry Sweet – Beowulf

Conquest; - the Period of Full
Norman Endings
Conquest

Middle 1066 –1475 (85) war of Roses Levelled Endings Canterbury Tales

Modern 1475 Lost endings

Early 1660 Telephone, Shakespeare

phonograph
Late 1876

Linguistic evidence shows that close contact existed between the dialects of Indo-
European. From the point of view of vocabulary, for instance, Indo-Iranian shared with Baltic
and Slavonic a considerable number of words which may be found only in these languages and
they supply important clues of the connection between these two linguistic families: the Sanskrit
word suit "to be bright, white" has its cognate in the Old Slavonic language in the form of suitlti
"to dawn".
Slavonic and Indo-Iranian coincide in changing s to s in contact with the semi-vowels i
and u, the vibrant rand the velar occlusive k. Slavonic shows special affinities with Iranian in its
use of the word Bogii both for "god" and for "grain" or "wealth". Some common grammatical
elements may be found in Balto-Slavonic and in Germanic languages; they share the element m
in the Dative and Ablative cases (Old Slavonic uliikomu, Gothic wulfam "with wolves") while in
Sanskrit the element bh appears here (Sanskrit urkebhyas has the same meaning).
During this period the contacts between languages were so wide that it was not only
languages in the same family that had common elements, but non-Indo-European languages
borrowed words from Indo-European languages too: for example, the Finno-Ugric mete "honey"
was borrowed from the Sanskrit madhu, Finno-Ugric nime "name" has its cognate form in the
Sanskrit niiman.
The prominent Russian linguist A. A. Shakhmatov showed that the earliest Finno-Ugric
borrowings from their neighbors in south Russia show common Aryan rather than Iranian traits.
The study of close linguistic relations between the dialects of the Indo-European parent
language is well under way now and the decipherment of newly discovered languages will
contribute to the solution of this problem.

The English language is one of the Germanic or Teutonic languages, a large

group belonging to one of the biggest linguistic families: Indo- European (IE).
Germanic languages are spoken in many countries and continents.
 They are: English - in Great Britain, Ireland, The USA, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, the South African Republic and many other former British colonies and dominions.
German - in the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria Luxemburg,
Liechtenstein, part of Switzerland. Netherlandish - in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium).
Afrikaans - in the South African Republic. Danish - in Denmark. Swedish - in Sweden and
Finland. Norwegian - in Norway. Icelandic - in Iceland. Frisian - in some regions of the
Netherlands and the Republic of Germany. Faroese - фарьерский in the Faroe. Jiddish - in
different countries. Some of them are national literary languages, others are local dialects spoken
over small areas. It is difficult to estimate the number of people speaking Germanic languages,
especially on account of English, which in many countries is one of two languages in a bilingual
community, e.g. in Canada. The estimates for English range from 250 to 300 million people who
have as their mother tongue. The total number of people speaking Germanic languages
approaches 440 million. To this rough estimate we could add an indefinite number of bilingual
people in the countries where English is used as an official language (over 50 countries).
Germanic languages are classified into three groups: (1) East Germanic, (2) North Germanic, (3)
West Germanic. East Germanic languages have been dead for many centuries. Of the old East
Germanic languages only one is well known.
Gothic: a vast written document has come down to us in this language, namely, a
translation of Bible made in the 4th century A. D. by the Gothic bishop Ulfilas from the Greek.
All the North Germanic and West Germanic languages have survived until
our own times. Now let us turn to the question of the tribes who spoke old Germanic Languages.
Old Germanic tribes in the first centuries of our era were passing through the stage of
development which is signalized by the term “barbarism” or great migrations. Friedrich Engels,
in his work On the History of Ancient Tentons, which was first published in the original
German and in Russian in 1935, and also in Chapters 7 and 8 of his work The Origin of the
Family, Private Property and the State gave a detailed characteristic of the social structure of
the ancient Teutons, and of the emergence of Old Germanic states.
Our knowledge of the ancient Teutons is based on testimonies by Greek and
Roman writers, who for some reason or other were interested in them. The
earliest of these was the Greek traveller and astronomer Pytheas (Пифей), from
Massilia (Массилияние Марсель), who lived in the 4th century BC. He sailed
from his native town through the straits of Gibraltar, along the West coast of
Gaul (France), along the Channel, and he may even have reached the Baltic.
Pytheas’s work has not come down to us; only a few fragments have been
preserved by the Greek geographer Strabo (Страбон), the author of a large work “Geography”
(63 B.C. -20 A.D.) and by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23 -79 AD).
Next comes the Roman General, Statesman, and writer Julius Caesar (Юлий
Цезарь) (100-44 B.C.). In his Comentaries on the War in G 1. The Vindili. Among them
were Goths and the Burgundians (бургунды). They inhabited the eastern part of Germanic
territory.
2. The Ingvaeons (ингевонг). These inhabited the north - western part of
Germanic territory the shores of the Northern Sea, including what is now the
Netherlands.
3. The Iscaevons: these inhabited the western Part of Germanic territory, on
the Rhine. Among them were the Franks, who eventually conquered Gaul.
4. The Hermiones. These inhabited the southern part of Germanic territory,
i.e. what is now southern Germany.
5. The Peucini (Певкины) and Bastarnae. These lived close to the
Dacians, clouse to what is now Rumania.
6. The Hilleviones, who inhabited Scandinavia. If we include Pliny’s group
5 in group 1 we obtain the following five groups and its corresponding Germanic languages.
Germanic Tribes languages. Vindili Eastern Germanic Ingvaeones Istiaevones Western
Germanic Herminones Hilleviones Northern Germanic. Next after Pliny comes the Great Roman
historian Cornelius Tacitus (born ab.55. died ab. 120 A.D). In his short work “Germania”.
Tacitus characterized social structure of the Old Germanic tribes around 100 AD. Germanic
tribes used 3 (three) different alphabets for their writings.
These alphabets partly succeeded each other in time.
The earliest of these was the runic alphabet, each separate Letter being called Rune.
Runes have a very peculiar look for eyes accustomed to modern European alphabets.
Next comes Ulfila's Gothic alphabet (4th century). This is the alphabet of Ulfila's Gothic
translation of the Bible, a peculiar alphabet based on the Greek alphabet, with some admixture of
Latin and Runic Letters. In editions of the Gothic text a Latin transcription of the Gothic
alphabet is used.
The latest alphabet to be used by Germanic tribes is the Latin alphabet.
It superseded both the Runic and Gothic alphabet when a new technique of writing was
introduced. The material now used for writing was either parchment or papyrus. Introduction of
the Latin alphabet accompanied the spread of Christianity and of Latin language Christian
religious texts.
From ancient times mankind was appealed by unknown writings: half-forgotten antique
languages, Egypt hieroglyphs, Indian inscriptions... The fate of runes was much happy - their
sense wasn't lost in the course of time, even when Latin alphabet became dominating one in
Europe. For instance, runes were used in calendars till the end of the 18-th c.
Modern linguists think that runes posses another kind of meaning, which we cannot find
in ideograms, hieroglyphs or in modem exotic alphabets - this meaning exists in
subconsciousness level. Runes were the personification of the surrounding world, essence of
outlook. With the help of special links between runes a man could express nearly everything,
compiling them (so called combined runes). In different times runes could change their meaning,
so we can say this adjusting system created dozens of meanings of one and the same symbol.
(Linguists find confirmation of this theory in the following example - every rune in different
languages had separate and original meaning, which didn't fully coincide with another one in the
second language.
Like all others components of language, runes endured numerous changes: in form, style
of writing, system of sounds and Letters, which expressed them. We can say that these alphabets
took wide spreading not only among Scandinavian and German tribes, but we can also trace its
penetration in Celtic and Slavonic languages. Now runes keep their main original meaning - in
the beginning they were the symbols of fortunetelling lore with sacred sense and mystic signs
(The general matter why they didn't get wide diffusion before AD). Even the word "rune"
corresponds as "secret" (compare old Celtic "run", middle welsh "rown", modem German
"raunen"). The last 1000 years in Iceland runes have been used for divination. In Anglo-Saxon
England the hours of king council were called "runes”.
The most important sources about runic history are ancient texts of Scandinavian pagan
religion - Old Edda by Brynolf Swesson and Lesser Edda by Snorri Sturlusson. They were two
missionaries who discovered these manuscripts in the time of Christian expansion. Another
documents containing the information about runes origin are Northern king sagas "Red Leather"
and Icelandic kin chronicles. Tombstones, altars, pagan pillars called "runic stones" played quite
catholic role in scientific researches - usually they are found dappled with miscellaneous writings
(Gothland, Upland, Norway). The most famous is Cilwer stone, which dates from the 5-th c. So
we can find a lot of writings on jewels and weapon, for barbarians believed things had to posses
their own names (breakteats).
German and Slavonic runic writing was the Letter system of peculiar look, accounted by
the writing technique on bone, wood and metal. Nowadays we have the main runic alphabet,
consisting of 24 signs, may be more, but another ones are regarded as variants or combined
runes. Letters of any language can have several sources of origin, for a taste Greek language,
which gave the birth to North Italian writing, had a good many of meaning for every sign. This
tradition was inherited by Etruscan alphabet and later by runic one. However, Christian
chronicles of 9-12c, known as «songs», revealed information about rune names and their
meanings. Every rune in it conforms to one strophe, which begins with this rune and its name. In
its turn, the name begins with its sound. The whole system is divided into 2 parts - futarks (arises
from the first symbols - F, U, Th, A, R, K: Old futark (runes of Old German origin - o.f.) and
Late futark (modifications of o.f. in Northumbrian, Frisian and Anglo-Saxon alphabets). 24 signs
traditionally gradate into 3 groups of 8 symbols called atts ("part of land" or "kin" compare Scot.
“lairt”, Ireland “aird”).
The origin of futark remains the matter of severe debates between historians, linguists
and philologists. There are two main theories: 1) Runic writing appeared on the basis of Latin
alphabet; 2) cradles of these signs are in transalpine and North Italian scripts. Scientists have a
lot of historical facts, approving that Etruscan merchants used this system. Probably they brought
it to the North (6th c. RC.). However some researchers think that runes cropped up in German
tribes from ancient Rome Latin writing. Comparing 3 letter types we have: 10 runic Letters in
Etruscan language, which absolutely coincide each other; 5 coinciding runic Letters and 8
resembling ones in Latin. Latin, Etruscan and some symbols from Greek originate from Akhiram
alphabet (lOc. RC). But the construction of runic alphabet (RA) different from others - for
example, order of the first Letters. The main period of development is one, when occult signs,
used in Alpine region and in the North, became combine sole system. Many runic symbols were
used as icons, showing various things and animals. Some runologists suppose that even in the
most developed variant they are close to pictures: rune "Fehu" f symbolizes cattle, Thurisaz q 1, -
thorn, Wunjo w - weathercock, Algiz z - elk, Zin xxs- lightning, Y r u - bow, Edhwaz m -
[Link] top of development and complete formation of RA system was in 1-2 c. AD.
The number of runes in alphabet varied in the course of time. 28 sings appeared in the
middle of the 6-th c. In Britain where German runes penetrated in the 5-th c. with Anglo-Saxon
invasion, Frisian futark was improved by the some additions and changes (mostly combined
runes) and numbered 29 units. In Northumberland 33 rune system existed already, with the
mixture of Celtic runes. Whilst on the Continent of went through the number of other changes. In
the middle of the 7-th c. the tendency to simplification appeared - some runes changed in
inscription, some were lost. To the middle of the 10-th c. the number of runes decreased to 16
units and late futark formed. It was purely writing system, which wasn't used for fortune telling.
It got wide spreading not only on the territory of German Empire, but in the North too, for
example in Denmark and Swiss. The difference between them was in writing technology - Swiss
ones were simpler, with short branches. Apparently it can be explained that it gained everyday
using. This system, if not take notice of its disadvantages, was in circulation till 12-th c.
The next step in development of RA took place in the middle of the 12-th c. by adding
dots to 16 sign system (dotted alphabet). It was used along with Latin one till the 16-th c. We can
find its variants in Slavonic manuscripts. Ripped and branchy RA weren't alike to dotted one.
Combined (constrained) runes. They attract attention by their unusual form - it is too difficult to
regard it as ordinary symbol. Their use is quite miscellaneous: in amulets, braketeats, and every-
where when difficult magic formulas were necessary. Runes are bind on the strength of common
line.
We cannot leave unnoticed such important stage of RA development as Ulfila's Gothic
alphabet. It has got nothing in common with "gothic" variants of Romanticism period: The real
Gothic writing system was used by the Goths on Gothland Island and later on the territory of
Poland, Lithuania and even North Black Sea coast. In the 6-th c. gothic bishop Ulfila invented
parallel variant of gothic alphabet. Creating it, Ulfila took the range of common Greek Letters
and perfected some runic sings, which existed already, with the aim to paint them with brush.
During 5 following centuries it was used by west Goths in Spain and in the South of France. But
in 1018 Toledian counsel decreed to prohibit all runic alphabets as vane and pagan ones. It is
clear from Letter names and their order that UA is younger than other RA. So we can trace
Greek and Latin influence in the system. For example, futark structure was changed by adding 2
symbols to the first att. So UA contains 12 signs, which do not have analogs in Old Gothic: Q, D,
A, B, G, and E, X, K, L, N, P, and T.
But, knowing all these peculiarities, we still can't answer to the question, from where
runes came. So, a few scientists suppose that German and Slavonic RA had the same roots and
originated from a same proto-language, for Etruscan theory is rather imperfect - Scandinavians
couldn't borrow it, because Etruscan writings were used too far away from the North and in quite
small territory. The following theory is closely connected with national migrations and
mythology. One of the legendary Scandinavian tribes - vanes or veneds - came to the North from
the East, where they set up Slavonic tribe - Vyatichi. We haven't got any historical
confirmations, that Slavonic people didn't have writing systems before Cyril and Mefodius
coming, so hypothetically we can believe that such system existed. Moreover, archeological
researches showed that there were some traces of RA on the territory of ancient Russia.
So we can say that when Slavonic tribes divided into nonrelative kins, RA went through
changes of different kind. In the end of the 1st millennium BC veneds were vanished by
Germanic barbarian hordes and proto runic system spread rapidly on the territory from the Black
sea to Gaul. As it is follow from archeological discoveries RA can be found on the Slavonic
jewels dated from 10-th c. AD, but it is difficult to say if they were originally Russian or
Scandinavian ones - perhaps, runes on the jewelries were regarded as the part of design and in
was copied blindly.
The vast Indo-European family of languages, to which most of the languages spoken in
Europe belong, consists of several branches, of which the Germanic languages are one
Nowadays Germanic languages are spoken in many countries: German (in Germany, Austria
and partly in Switzerland), Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Icelandic,
English (spoken, besides England, in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, and partly elsewhere). In India English is considered a second official language. In
ancient times the territory of Germanic languages was much more limited. Thus, in the 1 st
century A. D. Germanic languages were only spoken in Germany and in territories adjacent to it,
and also in Scandinavia. Germanic languages are classified into 3 groups: (1) East Germanic (2)
North Germanic (3) West Germanic. East Germanic languages have been dead for many
centuries. Of the old East Germanic languages only one is well known, viz., Gothic; a vast
written document has come down to us in this language, namely, a translation of the Bible made
in the 14th century A.D. by the Gothic bishop Ulfilas from the Greek. All North Germanic and
West Germanic languages have survived until our own tines.

Old Germanic tribes in the 1st centuries of our era were passing through the stage of
development which is signalized by the term “barbarism”. Friedrich Engles, in the work “On the
History of Ancient Teutons”, which was first published in the original German and in Russian in
1935 and in his work “The Origin of the Family, private Property, and the State” gave a detailed
characteristic of the social structure of the ancient Teutons, and of Old Germanic states. The
eailiest of these was the Greek traveller and astronomer Pytheas, from Massilia, who lived in the
4th century D.C. He said from his native town through the straits of Gibraltar, Pytheas’s work has
not come down to us: only a few fragments have been preserved by the Greek geographer strabo,
the aubhor of a large work Geography. Next comes the Roman general, statesman, and writer
Julius Caesar (100-44 bc). In his “Commentaries on the War in Gaul” Caesar gives several
chapters to the Germans, whom he combated and dealt with on the Rhine. Caesar’s statement
that the Germans lived in tribes and tribial unions is of particularly great value for the historians.
In also follows from Caesar’s account that the Teutons were nomads in his time. About a
century later, Pliny the Elder wrote about the Teutons in his great work “Natural History”. Pliny
 gave a classification of Germanic tribes, which has been basically accepted by modern
historians. According to Pliny, Germanic tribes in the 1 st century AD consisted of the following
groups:

1. the Vindili (among them were the Goths and the Burundians). They inhabited the eastern part
of Germanic territory;
2. the Ingvaeones. These inhabited the north western part of Germanic territory - the shores of the
Northern sea including what is now the Netherlands;
3. the Iscaevones. These inhabited the western part of Germanic territory, on the Rhine.
Among them were the Franks, who eventually conquered Gaul;
4. the Hermions. These inhabited the southern part of Germanic territory, i.e. what is now
southern Germany;
5. the Peucini and Bastarnae. These lived close to what is now Rumania;
6. the Hilleviones, who inhabited Scandinavia.
The natural relation between classification of Germanic tribes based on Pliny’s work and that
of Germanic languages based on analyses made by nineteenth - century linguists appears in the
following shape:

Tribes Languages

Vindili Eastern

Germanic Ingvaeones

Istaevaones Western

Germanic Herminones

Helleviones Northern Germanic

This natural correspondence is additional proof of the value of Pliny’s classification

Originally Eastern and Western Germanic languages had been a more close unity, which
eventually broke up, as the Goths and other Germanic tribes settled in East Europe.

Next after Pliny comes the great Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus. In his short work
“Germanic” Tacitus characterized the social structure of the Old Germanic Tribes around 100
AD. Tacitus’ results were widely used by Friedich Engels in his work “On the History of
Ancient Germans”.

The survey of OE phonetics deals with word accentuation, the systems of vowels and
consonants and their origins. The OE sound system developed from the PG system. It underwent
multiple changes in the pre-written periods of history, especially in Early OE. The diachronic
description of phonetics in those early periods will show the specifically English tendencies of
development and the immediate sources of the sounds in the age of [Link] system of word
accentuation inherited from PG underwent no changes in Early OE. In OE a syllable was made
prominent by an increase in the force of articulation; in other words, a dynamic or a force stress
was employed. In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the accent fell on the root-morpheme or on
the first syllable. Word stress was fixed; it remained on the same syllable in different
grammatical forms of the word and, as a rule, did not shift in word-building either. The forms of
the Dat. case of the nouns hlaforde ['xla:vorde], cyninge ['kyninge] used in the text and the Nom.
case of the same nouns: hlaford ['xla:vord], cyning ['kyning]. Polysyllabic words, especially
compounds, may have had two stresses, chief and secondary, the chief stress being fixed on the
first root-morpheme, e.g. the compound noun Norðmonna from the same extract, received the
chief stress upon its first component and the secondary stress on the second component; the
grammatical ending -a (Gen. pl) was unaccented. In words with prefixes the position of the stress
varied: verb prefixes were unaccented, while in nouns and adjectives the stress was commonly
thrown on to the prefix.

Cf: a'risan – arise v., 'toweard – toward adj., 'misdæd – misdeed n.

If the words were derived from the same root, word stress, together with other means, served to
distinguish the noun from the verb, cf:

Changes of Stressed Vowels in Early Old English

Sound changes, particularly vowel changes, took place in English at every period of
history. The development of vowels in Early OE consisted of the modification of separate
vowels, and also of the modification of entire sets of vowels.

It should be borne in mind that the mechanism of all phonetic changes strictly conforms
with the general pattern. The change begins with growing variation in pronunciation, which
manifests itself in the appearance of numerous allophones: after the stage of increased variation,
some allophones prevail over the others and a replacement takes place. It may result in the
splitting of phonemes and their numerical growth, which fills in the "empty boxes" of the system
or introduces new distinctive features. It may also lead to the merging of old phonemes, as their
new prevailing allophones can fall together. Most frequently the change will involve both types
of replacement, splitting and merging, so that we have to deal both with the rise of new
phonemes and with the redistribution of new allophones among the existing phonemes. For the
sake of brevity, the description of most changes below is restricted to the initial and final stages.

Independent Changes. Development of Monophthongs

The PG short [a] and the long [a:], which had arisen in West and North Germanic,
underwent similar alterations in Early OE they were fronted and, in the process of fronting, they
split into several sounds.

The principal regular direction of the change - [a]>[æ] and [a:]>[æ:] – is often referred to
as the fronting or palatalisation of [a, a:]. The other directions can be interpreted as positional
deviations or restrictions to this trend: short [a] could change to [o]or [a] and long [a:] became
[o:] before a nasal; the preservation (or, perhaps, the restoration) of the short [a ] was caused by a
back vowel in the next syllable— see the examples in Table 1 (sometimes [a] occurs in other
positions as well, e.g. OE macian, land, NE make, land).

Table 1

Splitting of [a] and [a:] in Early Old

English Change illustrated Examples

PG OEother OG languages OE NE
a æ

Gt ðataO Icel dagr ðæt

dæg that

day

a o Gt mann(a) mon man

O Icel land land land

a Gt magan magan may

Gt dagos dagas days

æ:

a:

o: OHGdâr

OHG slâfen

OHG mâno ðær

slæpan

mōna there

sleep

moon

OI cel mánaðr mōnað month

Development of Diphthongs

The PG diphthongs (or sequences of monophthongs) [ei, ai, iu, eu, au] — uderwent
regular independent changes in Early OE; they took place in all phonetic conditions irrespective
of environment. The diphthongs with i-glide were monophthongised into [i:] and [a:],
respectively; the diphthongs in u-glide were reflected_a&_long diphthongs [io:], [eo:] and [au]
>[ea:].

If the sounds in PG were not diphthongs but sequences of two separate phonemes, the
changes should be defined as phonologisation of vowel sequences. This will mean that these
changes increased the number of vowel phonemes in the language. Moreover, they introduced
new distinctive features into the vowel system by setting up vowels with diphthongal glides;
henceforth, monophthongs were opposed to diphthongs.
 All the changes described above were interconnected. Their independence has been
interpreted in different ways.

The changes may have started with the fronting of [a] (that is the change of [a] to [æ]),
which caused a similar development in the long vowels: [a:]>[æ:], and could also bring about the
fronting of [a] in the biphonemic vowel sequence [a + u], which became [æa:], or more precisely
[æ: :], with the second element weakened. This weakening as well as the monophthongisation of
the sequences in [-i] may have been favoured by the heavy stress on the first sound.

According to other explanations the appearance of the long [a:] from the sequence [a+i]
may have stimulated the fronting of long [a:], for this latter change helped to preserve the
distinction between two phonemes; cf. OE rod (NE road) and OE ræd ('advice') which had not
fallen together because while [ai] became [a:] in rad, the original [a:] was narrowed to [æ:] in the
word ræd. In this case the fronting of [a:] to [æ:] caused a similar development in the set of short
vowels: [a] > [æ], which reinforced the symmetrical pattern of the vowel system.

Another theory connects the transformation of the Early OE vowel system with the rise of
nasalised long vowels out of short vowels before nasals and fricative consonants ([a, i, u] plus
[m] or [n] plus [x, f, 0 or s]), and the subsequent growth of symmetrical oppositions in the sets of
long and short vowels .

Assimilative Vowel Changes: Breaking and Diphthongisation

The tendency to assimilative vowel change, characteristic of later PG and of the OG

languages, accounts for many modifications of vowels in Early OE. Under the influence of
succeeding and preceding consonants some Early OE monophthongs developed into diphthongs.
If a front vowel stood before a velar consonant there developed a short glide between them, as
the organs of speech prepared themselves for the transition from one sound to the other. The
glide, together with the original monophthong formed a diphthong.

The front vowels [i], [e] and the newly developed [æ], changed into diphthongs with a
back glide when they stood before [h], before long (doubled) [ll] or [l] plus another consonant,
and before [r] plus other consonants, e.g.: [e]>[eo] in OE deorc, NE dark. The change is known
as breaking or fracture. Breaking is dated in Early OE, for in OE texts we find the process
already completed: yet it must have taken place later than the vowel changes described above as
the new vowel [æ], which appeared some time during the 5th c., could be subjected to breaking
under the conditions described.

Breaking produced a new set of vowels in OE – the short diphthongs [ea] and [eo]; they could
enter the system as counterparts of the long [ea:], [eo:], which had developed from PG
prototypes.

Breaking was unevenly spread among the OE dialects: it was more characteristic of West
Saxon than of the Anglian dialects (Mercian and Northumbrian); consequently, in many words,
which contain a short diphthong in West Saxon, Anglian dialects have a short monophthong, cf.
WS tealde, Mercian talde (NE told).

Diphthongisation of vowels could also be caused by preceding consonants: a glide arose

after * palatal consonants as a sort of transition to the succeeding vowel.
After the palatal consonants [k‘], [sk‘] and [j] short and long [e] and [æ] turned into diphthongs
with a more front close vowel as their first element, e.g. Early OE *scæmu>OE sceamu (NE
shame). In the resulting diphthong the initial [i] or [e] must have been unstressed but later the
stress shifted to the first element, which turned into the nucleus of the diphthong, to conform
with the structure of OE diphthongs (all of them were falling diphthongs). This process known as
"diphthongisation after palatal consonants" occurred some time in the 6th c.

Breaking and diphthongisation are the main sources of short diphthongs in OE. They are
of special interest to the historians of English, for OE short diphthongs have no parallels in other
OG languages and constitute a specifically OE feature.

The status of short diphthongs in the OE vowel system has aroused much discussion and
controversy. On the one hand, short diphthongs are always phonetically conditioned as the)' are
found only in certain phonetic environments and appear as positional allophones of respective
monophthongs (namely, of those vowels from which they have originated). On the other hand,
however, they are similar in quality to the long diphthongs, and their phonemic status is
supported by the symmetrical arrangement of the vowel system. Their very growth can be
accounted for by the urge of the system to have all its empty positions filled. However, their
phonemic status cannot be confirmed by the contrast of minimal pairs: [ea], [æ], [a] as well as
[eo] and [e] occur only in complementary distribution, never in identical phonetic conditions to
distinguish morphemes; they also occur as variants in different dialects. On these grounds it
seems likely that short diphthongs, together with other vowels, make up sets of allophones
representing certain phonemes: [a, æ, ea] and [e, eo]. Perhaps the rise of short diphthongs merely
reveals a tendency to a symmetrical arrangement of diphthongs in the vowel system, which was
never fully realised at the phonemic level.

Palatal Mutation

The OE tendency to positional vowel change is most apparent in the process termed
"mutation". Mutation is the change of one vowel to another through the influence of a vowel in
the succeeding syllable.

This kind of change occurred in PG when [e] was raised to [i] and [u] could alternate with [o]
under the influence of succeeding sounds. In Early OE, mutations affected numerous vowels and
brought about profound changes in the system and use of vowels.

The most important series of vowel mutations, shared in varying degrees by all OE
languages (except Gothic), is known as "i-Umlaut" or "palatal mutation". Palatal mutation is the
fronting and raising of vowels through the influence of [i] or [j] (the non-syllabic [i]) in the
immediately following syllable. The vowel was fronted and made narrower so as to approach the
articulation of [i]. Cf. OE an (NE one) with a back vowel in the root and OE ænig (NE any)
derived from the same root with the root vowel mutated to a narrower and more front sound
under the influence of [i] in the suffix: [a:]>[æ:].
 Since the sounds [i] and [j] were common in suffixes and endings, palatal mutation was
of very frequent occurrence. Practically all Early OE monophthongs, as well as diphthongs
except the closest front vowels [e] and [i] were palatalised in these phonetic conditions.

Due to the reduction of final syllables the conditions, which caused palatal mutation, that
is [i] or [j], had disappeared in most words by the age of writing; these sounds were weakened to
[e] or were altogether lost (this is seen in all the examples above except ænig).

Of all the vowel changes described, palatal mutation was certainly the most
comprehensive process, as it could affect most OE vowels, both long and short, diphthongs and
monophthongs. It led to the appearance of new vowels and to numerous instances of merging
and splitting of phonemes.

The labialised front vowels [y] and [y:] arose through palatal mutation from [u] and [u:],
respectively, and turned into new phonemes, when the conditions that caused them had
disappeared. Cf. mus and mys (from the earlier *mysi, where [y:] was an allophone of [u:] before
[i]). The diphthongs [ie, ie:] (which could also appear from diphthongisation after palatal
consonants) were largely due to palatal mutation and became phonemic in the same way, though
soon they were confused with [y, y:]. Other mutated vowels fell together with the existing
phonemes, e.g. [oe] from [o] merged with [e, æ:], which arose through palatal mutation, merged
with [æ:] from splitting.

Palatal mutation led to the growth of new vowel interchanges and to the increased
variability of the root-morphemes: "owing to palatal mutation many related words and
grammatical forms acquired new root-vowel interchanges. Cf., e.g. two related words: OE gemot
n 'meeting' and OE metan (NE meet), a verb derived from the noun-stem with the help of the
suffix -j- (its earlier form was *motjan; -j- was then lost but the root acquired two variants:
mot'/met-). Likewise we find variants of morphemes with an interchange of root-vowels in the
grammatical forms mus, mys (NE mouse, mice), boc, bec (NE book, books), since the plural was
originally built by adding -iz. (Traces of palatal mutation are preserved in many modern words
and forms, e.g. mouse — mice, foot—feet, tale — tell, blood— bleed; despite later phonetic
changes, the original cause of the inner change is t-umlaut or palatal mutation.)

The dating, mechanism and causes of palatal mutation have been a matter of research and
discussion over the last hundred years. Palatal mutation in OE had already been completed by
the time of the earliest written records; it must have taken place during the 7th c., though later
than all the Early OE changes described above. This relative dating is confirmed by the fact that
vowels resulting from other changes could be subjected to palatal mutation, e. g. OE ieldra (NE
elder) had developed from *ealdira by palatal mutation which occurred when the diphthong [ea]
had already been formed from [æ] by breaking (in its turn [æ] was the result of the fronting of
Germanic [a]). The successive stages of the change can be shown as follows: fronting - breaking
- palatal mutation [a] > [æ] > [ea] > [ie] The generally accepted phonetic explanation of palatal
mutation is that the sounds [i] or [j] palatalised the preceding consonant, and that this consonant,
in its turn, fronted and raised the root-vowel. This "mechanistic" theory is based on the assumed
workings of the speech organs.. An alternative explanation, sometimes called "psychological" or
"mentalistic", is that the speaker unconsciously anticipates the [i] and [j] in pronouncing the root-
syllable – and through anticipation adds an. i-glide to the root-vowel. The process is thus
subdivided into several stages, e.g. *domjan >*doimjan >*doemjan >*deman (NE deem). It has
been found that some OE spellings appear to support both these theories, e.g. OE secgan has a
palatalised consonant [gg‘] shown by the digraph cg; Coinwulf, a name in BEOWULF,
occurring beside another spelling Cenwulf, shows the stage [oi:] in the transition from PG [o:] to
OE [oe:], and [e:]: OE cen 'bold'. The diphthongoids resulting from palatal mutation developed
in conformity with the general tendency of the vowel system: in Early OE diphthongal glides
were used as relevant phonemic distinctive features. In later OE the diphthongs showed the first
signs of contraction (or monophthongisation) as other distinctive features began to predominate:
labialisation and vowel length. (The merging of [ie, ie:] and [y, y:] mentioned above, can also be
regarded as an instance of monophthongisation of diphthongs.)

Consonant Changes in Pre-Written Periods

On the whole, consonants were historically more stable than vowels, though certain
changes took place in all historical periods. It may seem hat being a typical OG language OE
ought to contain all the consonants that arose in PG under Grimm's and Verner's Law. Yet it
appears that very few noise consonants in OE correspond to the same sounds in PG; for in the
intervening period most consonants underwent diverse changes: qualitative and quantitative,
independent and positional.

Some of the consonant changes dated in pre-written periods are referred to as "West
Germanic" (WG) as they are shared by all the languages of the WG subgroup; WG changes may
have taken place at the transitional stage from PG to Early OE prior to the Germanic settlement
of Britain.

Treatment of Fricatives. Hardening. Rhotacism. Voicing and Devoicing

After the changes under Grimm's Law and Verner's Law PG had the following two sets
of fricative consonants-voiceless [f, 0, x, s] and voiced [v, ð, y, z].

In WG and in Early OE the difference between the two groups was supported by new
features. PG voiced fricatives tended to be hardened to corresponding plosives while voiceless
fricatives, being contrasted to them primarily as fricatives to plosives, developed new voiced
allophones.

The PG voiced [ð] (due to Verner's Law or to the third act of the shift) was always
hardened to [d] in OE and other WG languages, cf., for instance, Gt goþs, godai [ð], O Icel goðr
and OE god (NE good), The two other fricatives, [v] and [y] were hardened to [b] and [g]
initially and after nasals, otherwise they remained fricatives.

PG [z] underwent a phonetic modification through the stage of [ж] into [r] and thus
became a sonorant, which ultimately merged with the older IE [r]. Cf. Gt. wasjan, 0 Icel verja
and OE werian (NE wear). This process, termed rhotacism, is characteristic not only of WG but
also of NG.

In the meantime or somewhat later the PG set of voiceless fricatives [f, 0, x, s] and also
those of the voiced fricatives which had not turned into plosives, that is, [v] and [y], were
subjected to a new process of voicing and devoicing. In Early OE they became or remained
voiced mtervocally and between vowels, sonorants and voiced consonants; they remained or
became voiceless in other environments, namely, initially, finally and next to other voiceless
consonants Cf. Gt qiþian, qaþi with [0] in both forms, and OE cweðan [ð] between vowels and
cwæð [0] at the end of the word (NE arch, quoth 'say').

The mutually exclusive phonetic conditions for voiced and voiceless fricatives prove that
in OE they were not phonemes, but allophones.

West Germanic Gemination of Consonants

In all WG languages, at an early stage of their independent history, most consonants were
lengthened after a short vowel before [j]. This process is known as WG "gemination" or
"doubling" of consonants, as the resulting long consonants are indicated by means of double
letters, e.g.: *fuljan > OE fyllan (NE fill); * sætjan OE > settan (NE set), cf. Gt satjan.
During the process, or some time later, [j] was lost, so that the long consonants ceased to
be phonetically conditioned. When the long and short consonants began to occur in identical
phonetic conditions, namely between vowels, their distinction became phonemic.
The change did not affect the sonorant [r], e.g. OE werian (NE wear); nor did it operate if
the consonant was preceded by a long vowel, e. g. OE demon, metan (NE deem, meet) — the
earlier forms of these words contained [j], which had caused palatal mutation but had not led to
the lengthening of consonants (the reconstruction of pre-written forms *motjan and *domjan is
confirmed by OS motion and Gt domjan).
Velar Consonants in Early Old English. Growth of New Phonemes

In Early OE velar consonants split into two distinct sets of sounds, which eventually led
to the growth of new phonemes. The velar consonants [k, g, x, y] were palatalised before a front
vowel, and sometimes also after a front vowel, unless followed by a back vowel. Thus in OE cild
(NE child) the velar consonant [k] was softened to [k'] as it stood before the front vowel [i]:
[*kild]>[k'ild]; similarly [k] became [k'] in OE spræc (NE speech) after a front vowel but not in
OE sprecan ("NE speak) where [k] was followed by the back vowel [a]. In the absence of these
phonetic conditions the consonants did not change, with the result that lingual consonants split
into two sets, palatal and velar. The difference between them became phonemic when, a short
time later, velar and palatal consonants began to occur in similar phonetic conditions; cf. OE cild
[k'ild], ciest [k'iest] (NE child, chest) with palatal [k'] and ceald, cepan (NE cold, keep) with
hard, velar [k] — both before front vowels.
Though the difference between velar and palatal consonants was not shown in the
spellings of the OE period, the two sets were undoubtedly differentiated since a very early date.
In the course of time the phonetic difference between them grew and towards the end of the
period the palatal consonants developed into sibilants and affricates: [k']>[tſ], [g']>[dz]; in ME
texts they were indicated by means of special digraphs and letter sequences.
The date of the palatalisation can be fixed with considerable precision in relation to other
Early OE sound changes. It must have taken place after the appearance of [æ, æ:] (referred to the
5th c.) but prior to palatal mutation (late 6th or 7th c.); for [æ, æ:] could bring about the
palatalisation of consonants (recall OE spræc, NE speech), while the front vowels which arose
by palatal mutation could not. In OE cepan. (from *kopjan) and OE cyning (with [e:] and [y]
through palatal mutation) the consonant [k] was not softened, which is confirmed by their
modern descendants, keep and king. The front vowels [y] and [e:] in these and similar words
must have appeared only when the splitting of velar consonants was well under way. Yet it is
their appearance that transformed the two sets of positional allophones into phonemes, for a
velar and a palatal consonant could now occur before a front vowel, that is, in identical phonetic
conditions: cf. OE cyning and cyse (NE king, cheese).
Loss of Consonants in Some Positions

Comparison with other OG languages, especially Gothic and O Icel, has revealed certain
instances of the loss of consonants in WG and Early OE.

Nasal sonorants were regularly lost before fricative consonants; in the process the preceding
vowel was probably nasalised and lengthened. Cf.:

Gt fimf, 0 Icel fim, OHG fimf — OE fif (NE five)

Gt uns, OHG uns — OE ūs (NE us)

Fricative consonants could be dropped between vowels and before some plosive
consonants; these losses were accompanied by a compensatory lengthening of the preceding
vowel or the fusion of the preceding and succeeding vowel into a diphthong, cf. OE sēon, which
corresponds to Gt saihwan, OE slēan (NE slay), Gt slahan, G. schlagen, OE sægde and sæde (NE
said).

We should also mention the loss of semi-vowels and consonants in unstressed final
syllables, [j] was regularly dropped in suffixes after producing various changes in the root:
palatal mutation of vowels, lengthening of consonants after short vowels. The loss of [w] is seen
in some case forms of nouns: Norn, treo, Dat. treowe (NE tree);

Nom. sæ, Dat. sæwe (NE sea), cf. Gt triwa, saiws.

Another important series of consonant changes in Germanic Languages was

discovered in the late 19th century by the Danish scholar Carl Verner. They are
known as Verner’s Law. Verner’s Law explains some correspondences of
consonants which seemed to ‘contradict Grimm’s Law and were for a long time
regarded as [Link] to Verner’s Law all the early Germanic voiceless fricatives [ f,
θ,x] which arose under Grimm’s Law, and [ S ] inherited from Indo- European became voiced
between vowels if the preceding vowel was unstressed
*pa`ter>fa`θ ar > fa`∂ar >`fæder (OE) ( G. *fa∂ar) in the absence of these
conditions they reained voiceless. The voicing occurred in early Proto
Germanic at the time when the stress was not yet fixed on the root morpheme
Verner’s Law accounts the appearance of voiced fricative or its later
modifications [ d ] in the place of the voiceless [ θ ] which ought to be expected
under Grimm’s Law. In late Germanic, the Phonetic conditions that caused the
voicing had disappeared: the stress had shifted to the first syllable.
The first act will read as follows:
Indo- European p, t, k// Germanic f>v, θ>∂, x> g, s> z .Let’s give some examples IE Germanic.
P > f (b)> v Lat. caput. [Link]Þ, OE. héafod [ v ]. septem [Link], OE seofon t>θ> ∂, d
Lat. pater. Goth. fader OE fæder NE father. k> h,x > g. cunctari OE. han3ian OE. swe3er s > z
Lat. auris, Goth. auso, OE eare. Verner’s Law, stating connection between the consonant
system of Germanic languages and the conditions of stress, gives rise to another question, which
is fundamental for the problem of the origin of Germanic languages. In all extant Old Germanic
texts the stress falls on the initial syllable (theroot syllable) of each word. This is clear, on the
one hand, from the treatment of unstressed vowels of endings, and on the other, from alliteration.
However, Verner’s law, based on a comparison of Germanic words with their
Greek, Sanskrit, and Slavonic counterparts, shows that in some cases the root
vowel in Germanic languages was originally unstressed. This leads to the
inevitable conclusion that originally stress in Germanic languages had been free, that is, in
different words different syllables could be stressed - a system which was preserved in Slavonic
languages, in Greek (with some limitations) and in Sanskrit well into the period of extant literary
texts. In the earliest Germanic texts we find a system of fixed stress (on the first syllable), which
was the result of a change of the original free- stress system, which was superseded by a fixed-
stress system. This discovery by Verner had, as we shall presently see, important consequences.
Germanic tribes used three different alphabets for their writings. These alphabets partly
succeeded each other in time. The earliest of these was the Runic alphabet, each separate letter
being called a Rune. Runes have a very peculiar look for eyes accustomed to Modern European
alphabets. Thus, the Rune denoting the vowel [ e ] was M, the rune denoting the consonant [ f]
was ,etc. The question of the origin of the Runic alphabet has been discussed by scholars for a
long time. The view now prevailing is that it was derived either from the Latin alphabet, or from
some other Italic alphabet close to the Latin.
Namely writing at the time did not mean putting a colour or paint on some
surface: it meant cutting letters into wood or engraving them on stone, bone or
metal. In Runic horizontal lines would be tilted upwards or town wards and curves would be
replaced by broken lines. In accordance with these principles, Latin E becomes M, H becomes ,
S becomes etc. Latin letter D yielded the Runic letter , which was used to denote a dental
fricative [θ] in mnE think, thought. Just when and where the Runic alphabet was created is not
known. It is supposed that it originated at some time in the 2 nd and 3 rd century AD.,
somewhere on the Rhine or the Danube, where Germanic tribes came into contact with the
Roman culture. The earliest Runic inscriptions appear to belong to this time.
The Runic alphabet was used by different Germanic tribes: Goths, AngloSaxons, and
Scandinavians. Numerous Runic inscriptions survive on rocks in different parts of Scandinavia.
There are also Runic inscriptions on movable objects: a spear a helment, a ring etc.
Next comes Ulfila’s Gothic alphabet (4 th century). This alphabets of
Ulfila’s Gothic translation of the Bible, a peculiar alphabet based on the Greek
alphabet, with some admixture Latin and Runic letters. In modern editions of the Gothic text a
Latin transcription of the Gothic alphabet in used.
The Latest alphabet to be used by Germanic tribes in the Latin alphabet. It superseded
both the Runic and Gothic alphabet when a new technique of writing was introduced, namely
that of spreading some colour or paint on a surface instead of cutting or engraving the letters.
Introduction of the Latin alphabet accompanied the spread of Christianity and of Latin
language Christian religions texts. The Latin alphabet was certainly
not adequate to represent all sounds of Germanic languages. So it was adapted to the peculiar
needs of separate languages. Thus, to denote the dental fricative [θ] the Runic letter , which had
once been derived from Latin D, was used.
The oldest Germanic texts were, as we have pointed out Runic inscriptions,
which may date from the 2nd or 3rd century. These are, however, short texts
which do not yield much information on the structure of old Germanic languages.
Next comes the Old High German Song of Hildebrandt, a fragment of an
epic, 8th century, and the Beowulf, an OE epic, probably written in the 8 th
century and preserved in a single 10th-century MS. Then come Old Icelandic epic texts
collected in the so-called Older Edda comprising songs written down in the 13th century.
As well be seen from this table, correspondences between Indo-European and Germanic
consonants may be grouped under 3 categories:

1. Indo-European voiceless stops (p,t,k,) correspond to Germanic voiceless fricatives (f,Þ,h).

2. Indo-European voiced stops (l,d,g,) correspond to Germanic voiceless stops (p,t,k).
3. Indo-European voiced aspirated stops (bh,dh,gh) correspond to Germanic voiced stops
without aspiration (b,d,g,).
It should be noted that not all correspondences stated in Grimm’s law are clear. In the first
place, we cannot find fully convincing examples to illustrate the correspondence IE b- Germac.p.
However, the consonant “p” is very rare in native Germanic words. Things are more
difficult as concerns the last group of correspondences. Voiced aspirated stops are actually found
in Sanskrit, whereas in the other IE languages we find either voiceless fricatives or unaspirated
voiced stops. It is the custom to take Sanskrit as the representative of IE languages, supposing
that Sanskrit has preserved the original state of the consonant. The correspondences found
between IE and Germanic consonants are interpreted in the following manner: The Germanic
sounds are the result of a development of the original IE sounds, as they existed in the IE
ancestor language. according to this interpretation, the 1 st consonant shifts is formulated in the
following manner: IE p becomes Germanic f, IE becomes Germanic p etc., or briefly
IE Germ. IE Germ. IE Germ.
p > f b > p bh > b
t > Þ d > t dh > d
k > h g > k gh > g

If “t” according to the general law of the shift, had developed into Þ, a cluster consisting of
two voiceless fricatives would have arisen. now, such clusters are avoided in Germanic
languages. Thus, in these cases the IE “t” undergone the shift in Germanic.
An essential feature of Germanic languages is their consonantal system, namely the result
of the so-called first consonant shift. The phenomena stated in the law of the first consonant shift
were found out by comparative linguistics early in the 19 th century. Two famous names are to be
mentioned in this connection: the Danish scholar Rasmus Christian Rask (1787-18320 and the
great German linguist and fairy-tales collector Jacob Ludwig Grimm (1785-1863). The earliest
statement of the shift was given in the second edition of Grimm’s work “German Grammar”,
which was published in 1822 Accordingly the law is also often called Grimm’s law. It expresses
regular correspondences between consonants of Germanic and those of other Indo-European
languages.

When we compare words of Germanic languages with the corresponding words of other
Indo-European languages, we find correspondences between them, which can be represented by
the following table.

As well be seen from this table, correspondences between Indo-European and Germanic
consonants may be grouped under 3 categories:

1. Indo-European voiceless stops (p,t,k,) correspond to Germanic voiceless fricatives (f,Þ,h).

2. Indo-European voiced stops (l,d,g,) correspond to Germanic voiceless stops (p,t,k).
3. Indo-European voiced aspirated stops (bh,dh,gh) correspond to Germanic voiced stops
without aspiration (b,d,g,).
It should be noted that not all correspondences stated in Grimm’s law are clear. In the first
place, we cannot find fully convincing examples to illustrate the correspondence IE b- Germac.p.
 However, the consonant “p” is very rare in native Germanic words. Things are more
difficult as concerns the last group of correspondences. Voiced aspirated stops are actually found
in Sanskrit, whereas in the other IE languages we find either voiceless fricatives or unaspirated
voiced stops. It is the custom to take Sanskrit as the representative of IE languages, supposing
that Sanskrit has preserved the original state of the consonant. The correspondences found
between IE and Germanic consonants are interpreted in the following manner: The Germanic
sounds are the result of a development of the original IE sounds, as they existed in the IE
ancestor language. according to this interpretation, the 1 st consonant shifts is formulated in the
following manner: IE p becomes Germanic f, IE becomes Germanic p etc., or briefly

IE Germ. IE Germ. IE Germ.

p > f b > p bh > b

t > Þ d > t dh > d

k > h g > k gh > g

If “t” according to the general law of the shift, had developed into Þ, a cluster consisting
of two voiceless fricatives would have arisen. now, such clusters are avoided in Germanic
languages. Thus, in these cases the IE “t” undergone the shift in Germanic.

It was noted long ago that in some words we find in Germanic languages consonants
which do not fit into Grimm’s law, as formulated above. In some cases it is voiced stops rather
than voiceless fricatives, that correspond in Germanic to IE voiceless stops. Compare, e.g. Lat
“pater, Greek” “pater”, Sanskrit “pitar”, and Goth “fadar”, OE “fædar”. It is a Germanic “d” that
corresponds to IE “t”. Similarly, compare Greek “dekas” (a ten) and Goth, “tigus”, where
Germanic g correspondes to IE k. Explanation of these apparent exceptions to Grimm’s law was
offered in 1887 by the Danish scholar Karl Verner.

The law, which has since been termed Verner’s law, adds the following note to Grimm’s
law. If an IE voiceless stop was preceded by an unstressed vowel, the voiceless fricative which
developed from it in accordance with Grimm’s law became voiced, and later this voiced fricative
became a voiced stop. Thus, in the Greek word “pater” “father” the voiceless stop t was
preceded by an unstressed vowel under these circumstances the voiceless fricative þ which
developed from it in accordance with Grimm’s law became a voiced fricative ð, and eventually
this voiced fricative developed into the voiced stop d. Thus, these are not exceptions to Grimm’s
law, but results of a further development of a consonant resulting from this law. The action of
Verner’s law is especially evident if we compore two words differing by the position of stress.
For instance:

Greek “deka” Russ, десять Goth “taihun, but:”

Greek “dekas” Russ, десяток  Goth “tigus”.

Besides the voiceless fricative consonants resulting from the consonant shift, one more
voiceless fricative consonant is affected by Verner’s law, viz., the consonant s. If the preceding
vowel is unstressed, s in Germanic languages becomes voiced, i.e. changes into z. Eventually
this z becomes r in Western Germanic and Northern Germanic languages. This latter change
z>r is termed rhotacism (the term is derived from the name of the Greek letter p
(rhō). This is clearly shown by comparing Goth “hausjan” - “hear ” and OE
“hieran ”, German “horen”; Goth “laisjan” “teach” and OE “lǽran”, German
“lehren”.

In the conjugation system one form may have its stress on one syllable,
while another form of the same verb may have it on another syllable (the root
syllable, or the inflection syllable). In this way, variants of the root arise, whose
consonants are different in accordance with Verner’s law. In this way
alternations within the verbal system arise, which have been named grammatical
consonant alternation was: f/b, þ/d, h/g, hw/w, s/r

Answer the following questions

1. What is the 1st consonant shift?

2. Who is the author of “German Grammar”?
3. What is the categories describe the correspondences between Indo-European
and Germanic consonants?
4. In what way is the 1st consonant shift formulated?
5. What do you know about “Verner’s law”?
6. What is conjugation?
7. In what countries are Germanic languages spoken now days?
8. What kind of groups are Germanic languages classified into?
Glossary
1. family resemblance category. A category whose members have no
single trait in common, but in which subsets of members share traits, as in a
family. Examples include tools, furniture, and game-..
2. FMRI. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. A form of MRI that
depicts the metabolic activity in different parts of the brain, not just the brain's
anatomy
3. generative linguistics. The school of linguistics associated with Noam
Chomsk) that attempts to discover the rules and principles that govern the form
and meaning of words and sentences in a particular language and in human
languages in general
4. generative phonology. The branch of generative grammar that studies
the sound pattern of languages