Kluge's Law
Encyclopedia
Kluge's Law is a Proto-Germanic sound law formulated by Friedrich Kluge
. It describes the assimilation
of an n to a preceding voiced consonant
, under the condition that the n was part of a suffix which was accented in Proto-Indo-European (PIE)
. This law explains the origin of the Proto Germanic geminates *kk, *tt and *pp. Even though Kluge does not claim to have originally discovered the phenomenon, it is still named after him, because he provided the canonical formulation of the sound law.
The law has sparked discussions about the chronology of Grimm's Law
, Verner's Law
and this new law, Kluge's Law. The problem is that the traditional ordering (1. Grimm, 2. Verner, 3. Kluge) can not account for the absence of voice in the Proto Germanic geminates. It has therefore been proposed to rearrange the order of events so that the Proto Germanic geminates' loss of voice may be equated with that part of Grimm's Law that turns mediae into voiceless tenues. This would mean that Kluge's Law happened before (or between different phases of) Grimm's Law. If accepted, this has further consequences, because Verner's Law must in fact precede Kluge's Law, or otherwise it can not be explained why both the reflexes of PIE voiced aspirated plosives and PIE voiceless plosives underwent Kluge's Law. Consequently, this would put Verner's Law chronologically in the first position, followed by Kluge's and finally Grimm's Law.
Thus, the processes may be summarized by the following table:
Kluge's law had a noticeable impact on Proto-Germanic morphology, as it gave rise to both nominal and verbal paradigms with an alternation of geminated and non-geminated consonants. Since these alternations are typologically similar to the well-known paradigmatic interchanges of consonant strength in Finnish and other Finno-Ugric languages, it has been argued by Guus Kroonen (2011) that Proto-Germanic as the result of Kluge's law acquired a type of consonant gradation
.
Friedrich Kluge
Friedrich Kluge is known for the Kluge etymological dictionary of the German language , which was first published in 1883....
. It describes the assimilation
Assimilation (linguistics)
Assimilation is a common phonological process by which the sound of the ending of one word blends into the sound of the beginning of the following word. This occurs when the parts of the mouth and vocal cords start to form the beginning sounds of the next word before the last sound has been...
of an n to a preceding voiced consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
, under the condition that the n was part of a suffix which was accented in Proto-Indo-European (PIE)
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
. This law explains the origin of the Proto Germanic geminates *kk, *tt and *pp. Even though Kluge does not claim to have originally discovered the phenomenon, it is still named after him, because he provided the canonical formulation of the sound law.
The law has sparked discussions about the chronology of Grimm's Law
Grimm's law
Grimm's law , named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing the inherited Proto-Indo-European stops as they developed in Proto-Germanic in the 1st millennium BC...
, Verner's Law
Verner's law
Verner's law, stated by Karl Verner in 1875, describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby voiceless fricatives *f, *þ, *s, *h, *hʷ, when immediately following an unstressed syllable in the same word, underwent voicing and became respectively the fricatives *b, *d, *z,...
and this new law, Kluge's Law. The problem is that the traditional ordering (1. Grimm, 2. Verner, 3. Kluge) can not account for the absence of voice in the Proto Germanic geminates. It has therefore been proposed to rearrange the order of events so that the Proto Germanic geminates' loss of voice may be equated with that part of Grimm's Law that turns mediae into voiceless tenues. This would mean that Kluge's Law happened before (or between different phases of) Grimm's Law. If accepted, this has further consequences, because Verner's Law must in fact precede Kluge's Law, or otherwise it can not be explained why both the reflexes of PIE voiced aspirated plosives and PIE voiceless plosives underwent Kluge's Law. Consequently, this would put Verner's Law chronologically in the first position, followed by Kluge's and finally Grimm's Law.
Thus, the processes may be summarized by the following table:
| Pre-PGM | -tnV́- | -dʰnV́- | -dnV́- | All three sets of stops occur before accented suffixes. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verner's Law | -dʰnV́- | -dʰnV́- | -dnV́- | Voiceless stops occurring after an unaccented syllable are voiced. |
| Kluge's Law | -dːV́- | -dːV́- | -dːV́- | Stop + *n becomes, before an accented vowel, a geminate. |
| Grimm's Law and Stress Shift | -tːV- | -tːV- | -tːV- | Voiced stops are devoiced, and accent is shifted on the initial syllable. |
Kluge's law had a noticeable impact on Proto-Germanic morphology, as it gave rise to both nominal and verbal paradigms with an alternation of geminated and non-geminated consonants. Since these alternations are typologically similar to the well-known paradigmatic interchanges of consonant strength in Finnish and other Finno-Ugric languages, it has been argued by Guus Kroonen (2011) that Proto-Germanic as the result of Kluge's law acquired a type of consonant gradation
Consonant gradation
Consonant gradation is a type of consonant mutation, in which consonants alternate between various "grades". It is found in some Uralic languages such as Finnish, Estonian, Northern Sámi, and the Samoyed language Nganasan. In addition, it has been reconstructed for Proto-Germanic, the parent...
.
| n-stems | PIE | PGM |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | C_́C-ōn | C_C-ō |
| genitive | C_C-n-ós | C_CC-az |
| neh2-presents | PIE | PGM |
|---|---|---|
| 3p. singular | C_C-néh2-ti | C_CC-ōþi |
| 3p. plural | C_C-nh2-énti | C_G-unanþi |