Re: [tied] Grimm and Verner

From: Giuseppe Pagliarulo
Message: 11830
Date: 2001-12-16

Good day, Piotr and all.
 
Piotr wrote:
 
(2) VERNER'S LAW
 
A voiceless fricative (*f, *þ, *x or *s) remains voiceless if it is initial or immediately preceded by a stressed vowel, or if it forms a cluster with another voiceless obstruent (e.g. *xs, *fs, *ft); otherwise it becomes voiced:
 
This is the classical formulation of the law and the one I've been taught myself. It implies that this voicing phenomenon took place after the operation of Grimm's law. However, I remember reading in P. Ramat's _Einfuehrung in das Germanische_ that there is a new theory proposing that Verner's law is an independent lenition process predating Grimm's law. This seems quite uneconomic to me, but then I think of Old Norse _ylgr_ "she-wolf" where the voicing of IE *kW seems to have taken place before the *kW > *p (> *f) shift. I'd like to know your opinion about it.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
G. P.