Grimm's Law refers to the systematic study of consonant shifts that occurred between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic languages, including English. It was named for Jakob Grimm, who studied how voiceless stops shifted to voiceless fricatives, voiced stops became voiceless stops, and voiced aspirated stops shifted to voiced fricatives or stops in Germanic languages. Examples are provided of words that demonstrate the consonant shifts or where Grimm's Law does not apply due to later borrowings.

1. Grimm's Law Marvyn A. Mahle TSL 660 March 9, 2010

2. What is Grimm's Law? Grimm's Law refers to the systematic study and categorization of the consonant shifts that occurred between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic...an eventually English Named for Jakob Grimm, one of the Brothers Grimm, most well-known in Western culture for their versions of children's stories and morality tales, e.g., Hansel & Gretel, Sleeping Beauty , etc.

3. What was Proto-Indo-European? The language spoken by the Indo-Europeans, an ancient race that inhabited what is today Europe, parts of Near East, Iran, and India... Map source: indo-european.dnghu.org

4. Progression of Grimm's Law Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops change into voiceless fricatives. Proto-Indo-European voiced stops become voiceless stops. Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirated stops become voiced fricatives; ultimately, in most Germanic languages these voiced fricatives become voiced stops. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm's_Law Source: http://www.uoregon.edu/~l150web/weblec4.2.html

5. Examples of Consonant Shifts Source: Contemporary Linguistics, O'Grady, et al, p286.

6. Situations Where Grimm's Law Does Not Apply Direct borrowing of words after the consonant shift occurred: Pedestrian, from Latin pedes, pronounced pedestrian, not fedestrian Tenuous, Pedestrian, from Latin tenuis, pronounced tenuous, not thenuous Canal, Pedestrian, from Latin canalis, pronounced canal, not hanal

7. Further Information Full list of shifted consonants: http://german.about.com/library/blcognates_shiftC.htm Thumbnail history of the Indo-Europeans: http://www.uoregon.edu/~l150web/weblec4.2.html And after you've finished studying Grimm's Law, relax with a Brothers Grimm tale... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Riding_Hood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKbWdgW6sD8&feature=fvw