1. Comparative-Historical Method

2. Principal Features of Germanic Languages

• PIE dynamic stress began to be fixed mainly upon the 1st syllable (root).
• Changes of vowels:
• Common Germanic vowelshift;
• Germanic Fracture (deals with open/close sounds);
• Changes of consonants:
• Grimm's Law;
• Verner's Law;
• Specific morphological structure of the word;
• Specifically Germanic system of noun declensions;
• Strong and weak declensions of adjectives;
• Strong and weak verbs.

3. Changes of CG Consonants a. Grimm's Law – 1st Sound Shift

Jacob Grimm (1822)

discovered regular correspondence between Indo-European languages within the phonology with the help of the Comparative-Historical Method.

The law reflects the change (shift) of type of articulation by stops in Germanic languages. It was the simultaneous shift of 3 groups of stops: voiced, voiceless and aspirated.

• The law reflects the change (shift) of type of articulation by stops in Germanic languages. It was the simultaneous shift of 3 groups of stops: voiced, voiceless and aspirated.
• This shift was completed by 5th-beginning of 6th century A.D.

voiced
voiceless
aspirated

1. IE voiced aspirated plosives (stops) > CG voiced plosives (stops)

bh > b	Sanskr bhrātar > Gt broƀar, ME brother
dh > d	Sanskr medhu, R мёд > OE medu
gh > g	PIE *ghostis > Gt gasts, OE giest

2. IE voiced plosives (stops) > CG voiceless plosives (stops)