Verner's law

Verner's law
Verner's law Ver"ner's law (Philol.) A statement, propounded by the Danish philologist Karl Verner in 1875, which explains certain apparent exceptions to Grimm's law by the original position of the accent. Primitive Indo-European k, t, p, became first in Teutonic h, th, f, and appear without further change in old Teutonic, if the accent rested on the preceding syllable; but these sounds became voiced and produced g, d, b, if the accent was originally on a different syllable. Similarly s either remained unchanged, or it became z and later r. Example: Skt. sapt[=a] (accent on ultima), Gr. 'e`pta, Gothic sibun (seven). Examples in English are dead by the side of death, to rise and to rear. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • 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 and * x , when immediately following an unstressed syllable in the same word, underwent… …   Wikipedia

  • Verner's law — [vʉr′nərz, ver′nərz] n. [formulated (1875) by Karl Verner (1846 96), Dan philologist] an explanation for a series of apparent exceptions to Grimm s law, stating that the Proto Germanic word medial voiceless spirants (f, th, h, s), derived from… …   English World dictionary

  • Verner's law — noun a qualification of Grimm s law • Hypernyms: ↑sound law * * * Verner s law see law n.1 17 c …   Useful english dictionary

  • Verner's law — Ling. the statement by K. Verner of a regularity behind some apparent exceptions in the Germanic languages to Grimm s law, namely, that Proto Germanic voiceless fricatives became voiced when between voiced sounds if the immediately preceding… …   Universalium

  • Verner's law — Ver′ner s law′ n. ling. a statement of the regularity behind some apparent exceptions in the Germanic languages to Grimm s law, namely, that Proto Germanic voiceless fricatives became voiced when occurring between voiced sounds if the immediately …   From formal English to slang

  • Verner's law — /ˈvɜnəz lɔ/ (say vernuhz law) noun an account explaining apparent exceptions to Grimm s law by showing their dependence on the position of word stress in primitive Indo European; explains, for example, the apparent irregular development of Indo… …  

  • Verner's law — noun Etymology: Karl A. Verner Date: 1878 a statement in historical linguistics: in medial or final position in voiced environments and when the immediately preceding vowel did not bear the principal accent in Proto Indo European, the Proto… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Verner — may refer to:* Verner (name), people with the given name or surname * Verner, Ontario, town near Sturgeon Falls, Canada * The Lillian Verner Game Show, American popular recurring skit on MADtv * Verner s law, historical sound change in the Proto… …   Wikipedia

  • Verner, Karl — ▪ Danish linguist in full  Karl Adolf Verner  born March 7, 1846, Århus, Den. died Nov. 5, 1896, Copenhagen       linguist and formulator of Verner s law, which provided convincing evidence of the regularity of sound change in the historical… …   Universalium

  • Verner'sLaw — Ver·ner s Law (vûrʹnərz, vĕrʹ ) n. A law stating essentially that Proto Germanic noninitial voiceless fricatives in voiced environments became voiced when the previous syllable was unstressed in Proto Indo European. For example, both the th and… …   Universalium

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