Grimm's Law and loanwords.

Grimm's Law and loanwords.
Authors: Vennemann, Theo1
Source: Transactions of the Philological Society; Aug2006, Vol. 104
Issue 2, p129-166, 38p, 2 charts
Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: *CONSONANTS
*GERMANIC languages
*GLOTTALIZATION (Phonetics)
*GRAMMAR, Comparative & general -- Phonology
*INDO-European languages
*PROTO-Indo-European language
Abstract: This article addresses the controversy about the
reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European consonant inventory, namely
the question of whether the traditional, Neo-Grammarian reconstruction
or one of the more recent alternatives such as the Glottalic Theory is
correct. This question is directly related to that of the proper
formulation of Grimm's Law. In the traditional framework the
Proto-Germanic voiceless plosives derive from an Indo-European series
of plain voiced plosives, whereas in the alternative account they
derive from some kind of voiceless plosives, e.g. voiceless
glottalics. The article brings to bear on the problem a new kind of
evidence: the integration of prehistoric Semitic loanwords. This
evidence unambiguously supports the traditional framework, in
particular a shift of voiced to voiceless plosives under Grimm's Law.
[ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Author Affiliations: 1University of Munich