latin and greek elements in english - utah state university · • voiced: b/d/g/m/z • unvoiced:...

• all speech production happens in the mouth or throat

– throat: larynx• most vowel sounds

• produced by the continuous flow of airover the pharynx, in combination withcertain configuration in the mouth

• back to front: i/e/a/o/u

• very variable over time and across regions

– nose: middle ground between vowels and consonants• nasals = semivowels

Latin and Greek Elements in EnglishGrimm’s Law


• all speech production happens in the mouth or throat

– mouth: palate/teeth/lips• most consonants

• by stopping and then releasingthe flow of air

• or narrowing the air stream:fricatives (f/v/z/sh/th)

– spirant (/s/): air through teeth

• or forcing it through the nose– nasals

– liquids

– continuants

PHONEMESVOICED: B D GUNVOICED: P T C

FRICATIVES: F V Z SH TH

NASALS: M NLIQUIDS: L R

CONTINUANTS: W Y

LABIOVELARS: Gw Kw

ASPIRATES: BH DH GH GwH

LARYNGEALS: ?


• voiced vs. unvoiced consonants– based on the use of the vocal

chords (or not)• voiced: b/d/g/m/z

• unvoiced: p/t/c/n/sh

– classes of consonants• based on where the sound is

formed in the mouth

• labial (lips): b/g

• dental (teeth and tongue): d/t

• palatal (hard palate): g/c– or velar (velum, “soft palate”)

• labiovelar (lips/palate): gw/kw(=qu)




CONTINUANTS: W Y

LABIOVELARS: Gw Kw


LARYNGEALS: ?


• Indo-European had most ofthese consonants– 18 total

– but it was missing: b, z, sh

– and it had a full set of aspirates:bh/dh/gh/gwh

– and a mysterious set of consonants called “laryngeals”

• these are the consonants that all IE daughter languages inherit




CONTINUANTS: W Y

LABIOVELARS: Gw Kw


LARYNGEALS: ?


• the Germanic branch of Indo-European– i.e. the way the IE language evolved as IE speakers moved into

northern Europe• West Germanic: German, English, Dutch

• East Germanic: now extinct

• North Germanic (Scandinavian): Swedish, Danish, Norwegian


• West Germanic– developed among Germanic speakers who lived between the Elbe

and Oder Rivers

– this is the mother tongue of modern German

– also English, after the Angles and Saxons invade and settle England

• East Germanic– developed among German speakers who lived east of the Oder

River

– this branch of Germanic is now extinct

• Northern Germanic– developed in Denmark, Norway and Sweden; and later Iceland

ElbeRiver

OderRiver


WEST GERMANS

ElbeRiver

OderRiver


EAST GERMANS


• THE GREAT CONSONANT SHIFT– around 1000-500 BCE, there occurred a significant shift in

consonants that affected all Germanic languages• before Common Germanic had begun to break up

– the change affected only consonants• primarily voiced, unvoiced, and aspirate consonants (some labiovelars)

• NOT vowels or semi-vowels (i.e. nasals, liquids, continuants)

– it is unclear why this change happened• “languages drift”

“It is often assumed that the change was due to contact with a non-Germanic population. The contact could have resulted from the migration of the Germainctribes or from the penetration of a foreign population into Germanic territory.”

A.C. Baugh, A History of the English Language


UNVOICED ASPIRATE VOICED UNVOICED

LABIALS: P > PH (F) > B > PDENTALS: T > TH (F) > D > T

GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C

• the change began when unvoiced consonants (p/t/k)changed into aspirate consonants (ph/th/ch)– for some reason, our Germanic ancestors decided to start

speaking breathily all the time

• but then it was hard to tell what words meant, so the original aspirate consonants became voiced consonants

• then the voiced consonants became unvoiced consonants, bringing all these consonants full circle


• that this had happened was first discovered by Jacob Grimm (1785-1863)– linguist, philologist and folklorist

• as a student, he went about the German countryside, gathering evidence from locals of archaic words

• language in the country often retains archaic constructions lost in the city

– 1822: Grimm published evidence of the Great Consonant Shift• henceforth, “Grimm’s Law”

– but to convince suspicious country folk to speak with him, he had to tell them he was collecting stories

• when, in fact, he was really listening for odd/archaic words

• in the end, he had a fascinating body of traditional narrative which he published with his brother Wilhelm as “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”


• later, Jacob became interested in folklore in general– especially German mythology

• he also oversaw the creation of a German dictionary and grammar


• now let’s look at Grimm’s Law:– by examining words that at first don’t look like cognates but,

when you understand Grimm’s Law, you can see they are!• we’ll do this by looking at Latin/Greek words which haven’t undergone

the Great Consonant Shift and comparing them to their English cognates

– remember that vowels (and semi-vowels) are unstable and very likely to change — focus only on the consonants

– e.g. Latin pater = English _________?• Latin p = English f

• Latin t = English th

father




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C_______________

GEN(US)“race, family”

genus, genesis, genetic

K_NKIN





GEL(I)D(US)“frozen”

gelid, congeal, Jell-O

C _ LDCOLD




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C___________________

CHOL(OS)“bile”

cholera, melancholy

G _ L(L)GALL




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C___________________

HOST(IS)“stranger”

host, hostile, hostel/hotel

G _ STGUEST




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C_____________

DA(CTYLOS)“digit, finger, extremity”

dactylic, pterodactyl

T__TOE




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C_____________

D(UO)“pair, both”

duo, dual, duplicate

T __TWO




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C_________________

TH(EMA)“act, accomplish”

theme, synthesis, antithesis

D_DO





_________________

POL(Y)“many, much”

polygon, polygamy

F_LLFULLFILL





_________________

FER(O)“carry”

fertile, transfer, refer

B__RBEAR





_________________

_______________

FRAG(ILIS)“crush, destroy”

fragile, fragment, fracture

BR__KBREAK





_________________

_____________________

PISC(ES)“sea creature”

Pisces, piscary

F_SHFISH




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C______________

DOM(US)“house”

domestic, domicile, dome

T_METAMET_M TIM(BER)(BER)





_________________

FER(VO)“become hot”

fervid, effervescent

B_R(N)BUR(N)





GRAN(US)“grain”

granary, granola

C_R(N)COR(N)




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C______________________

CORN(U)“antler”

unicorn, cornet

H_R(N)HOR(N)




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C________________________________

DENT(ES)“molar, incisor”

dentist, dentition, indent

T__THTEETH





AG(E)R“field”

agriculture, agronomy

_CR_ACR(E)




GUTTURALS: K/C > KH/CH (H) > G > K/C__________________

TON(ITUS)“loud noise”

intone, astonish,detonate

TH_N THUN(DER)(DER)





_________________

FLO(RA)“flower”

florid, florist,flourescent

BL__ BLOOM(M)





_________________

AP(O)-“away from”

apostate, apostrophe, apostle

_FOFOFF





_________________

PR(O)-“in place of, in behalf of”

progress, proceed, pro

F_RFOR

latin and greek elements in english - utah state university · • voiced: b/d/g/m/z • unvoiced:...

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