Lautverschiebung

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.]