Lautverschiebung

Lautverschiebung Laut"ver*schie`bung (lout"f[e^]r*sh[=e]`b[oo^]ng), n.; pl. {Lautverschiebungen} (lout"f[e^]r*sh[=e]`b[oo^]ng*en). [G.; laut sound + verschiebung shifting.] (Philol.) (a) The regular changes which the primitive Indo-European stops, or mute consonants, underwent in the Teutonic languages, probably as early as the 3d century b. c., often called the {first Lautverschiebung}, {sound shifting}, or {consonant shifting}. (b) A somewhat similar set of changes taking place in the High German dialects (less fully in modern literary German) from the 6th to the 8th century, known as the {second Lautverschiebung}, the results of which form the striking differences between High German and The Low German Languages. The statement of these changes is commonly regarded as forming part of {Grimm's law}, because included in it as originally framed. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]