Proto-Germanic language

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In Modern English these are reduced to two cases in nouns, a general case that does duty… </p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/Indo-European-languages/Characteristic-developments-of-Indo-European-languages#ref603329">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>comparative reconstruction</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/34/2034-050-226FF27E/Distribution-languages-Germanic-Europe.jpg" alt="Germanic languages in Europe" data-width="1527" data-height="2000" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-languages#ref603750" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Germanic languages</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…leads scholars to reconstruct the Proto-Germanic form *<em>hornan</em>. </p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/Germanic-languages#ref603750">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>consonants</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/34/2034-050-226FF27E/Distribution-languages-Germanic-Europe.jpg" alt="Germanic languages in Europe" data-width="1527" data-height="2000" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-languages#ref603758" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Germanic languages: Consonants</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">These changes yielded the following Proto-Germanic system of consonants: voiceless stops and fricatives, *<em>p</em>, *<em>f</em>, *<em>t</em>, *<em>þ</em>, *<em>k</em>, *<em>h</em>∼<em>x</em>, *<em>k<sup>w</sup></em>, *<em>h<sup>w</sup></em>∼<em>x<sup>w</sup></em>; voiced stops and fricatives, *<em>b</em>∼<em>ƀ</em>, *<em>d</em>∼<em>ð</em>, *<em>g</em>∼<em>ǥ</em>, (*<em>g<sup>w</sup></em>∼<em>ǥ<sup>w</sup></em>); sibilants, *<em>s</em>, *<em>z</em>; nasals, *<em>m</em>, *<em>n</em>; liquids, *<em>l</em>, *<em>r</em>; and semivowels, *<em>w</em>, * </p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/Germanic-languages#ref603758">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>Frisian languages</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/34/2034-050-226FF27E/Distribution-languages-Germanic-Europe.jpg" alt="Germanic languages in Europe" data-width="1527" data-height="2000" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/West-Germanic-languages#ref603791" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">West Germanic languages: History</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…of the nasal sound before Proto-Germanic *<em>f</em>, *<em>þ</em>, and *<em>s</em> (e.g., Proto-Germanic *<em>fimf, *munþ-</em>, and *<em>uns</em> became Old Frisian <em>fīf</em> ‘five,’ <em>mūth</em> ‘mouth,’ and <em>ūs</em> ‘us’), palatalization of Proto-Germanic *<em>k</em> before front vowels and *<em>j</em> (e.g., Proto-Germanic *<em>kinn-</em> and *<em>lē</em><sup>1</sup><em>kj-</em> became Old Frisian <em>tzin</em> ‘chin’ and <em>lētza</em> ‘physician’ [compare English… </p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/West-Germanic-languages#ref603791">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>Germanic peoples</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/98/898-050-FABCB62A/Germany.jpg" alt="Germany" data-width="1155" data-height="1600" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/History#ref249329" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Germany: Ancient history</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…<em>t</em>, and <em>k</em> became the Proto-Germanic <em>f</em>, <em>[thorn]</em> (<em>th</em>), and <em>x</em> (<em>h</em>), and the Proto-Indo-European <em>b</em>, <em>d</em>, and <em>g</em> became Proto-Germanic <em>p</em>, <em>t</em>, and <em>k</em>. The historical context of the shift is difficult to identify because it is impossible to date it conclusively. Clearly the people who came to speak… </p><a class="read-more" href="/place/Germany/History#ref249329">Read More</a></li></ul></section><section><h3>Gothic language</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/90/1990-050-53E1AB05/Derivation-languages-Germanic-Proto-Germanic.jpg" alt="Germanic languages" data-width="1600" data-height="680" loading="lazy"></div> <span class="index-xref">In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-Germanic-languages#ref603785" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">East Germanic languages: Phonology</a></span><p class="topic-paragraph">…generally accepted development of the Proto-Germanic vowels in Gothic can be diagrammed as follows: </p><a class="read-more" href="/topic/East-Germanic-languages#ref603785">Read More</a></li></ul></section></section></div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320" data-page="1"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"INDEX","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":480143,"pageLength":0,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"INDEX","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Proto-Germanic language | Britannica