g_ - 0061.htm

§ 126] The First Sound-shifting 51

the tongue and the roof of the mouth (hard palate), like g, k (c) in English get, good, kid, could; whereas the velars are formed by the root of the tongue and the soft palate (velum). The latter do not occur in English, but are common in Hebrew, and are often heard in the Swiss pronunciation of German. In the parent Indo-Germanic language there were two kinds of velars, viz. pure velars and velars with lip rounding. The pure velars fell together with the Indg. palatals in Germanic, Latin, Greek, and Keltic, but were kept apart in the Aryan and Baltic-Slavonic languages. The velars with lip rounding appear in the Germanic languages partly with and partly without labialization, see § 134. The palatal and velar nasals only occurred before their corresponding explosives, nk, ng; rjq, ng, &c.

2. Spirants are consonants formed by the mouth passage being narrowed at one spot in such a manner that the outgoing breath gives rise to a frictional sound at the narrowed part.

z only occurred before voiced explosives, e. g. *nizdos = Lat. nidus, English nest; *ozdos ·· Gr. SJos, Goth, asts, bough.

j was like the widely spread North German pronunciation of j in ja, not exactly like the y in English yes, which is generally pronounced without distinct friction, j occurred very rarely in the prim. Indo-Germanic language. In the Germanic, as in most other Indo-Germanic languages, the frictional element in this sound became reduced, which caused it to pass into the so-called semivowel.

3. The nasals and liquids had the functions both of vowels and consonants (§ 35).

4. The essential difference between the so-called semivowels and full vowels is that the latter always bear the stress (accent) of the syllable in which they occur, e. g. in English cow, stain the first element of the diphthong is a vowel, the second a consonant; but in words like French rwá (written roi), bjár (written biere), the first element of the diphthong is a consonant, the second a vowel. In consequence of this twofold function, a diphthong may be defined as the combination of a sonantal with a consonantal vowel. And it is called a falling or rising diphthong according as the stress is upon the first or second element. In this book the second element of diphthongs

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		§ 126] The First Sound-shifting 51 the tongue and the roof of the mouth (hard palate), like g, k (c) in English get, good, kid, could; whereas the velars are formed by the root of the tongue and the soft palate (velum). The latter do not occur in English, but are common in Hebrew, and are often heard in the Swiss pronunciation of German. In the parent Indo-Germanic language there were two kinds of velars, viz. pure velars and velars with lip rounding. The pure velars fell together with the Indg. palatals in Germanic, Latin, Greek, and Keltic, but were kept apart in the Aryan and Baltic-Slavonic languages. The velars with lip rounding appear in the Germanic languages partly with and partly without labialization, see § 134. The palatal and velar nasals only occurred before their corresponding explosives, nk, ng; rjq, ng, &c. 2. Spirants are consonants formed by the mouth passage being narrowed at one spot in such a manner that the outgoing breath gives rise to a frictional sound at the narrowed part. z only occurred before voiced explosives, e. g. nizdos = Lat. nidus, English nest; ozdos ·· Gr. SJos, Goth, asts, bough. j was like the widely spread North German pronunciation of j in ja, not exactly like the y in English yes, which is generally pronounced without distinct friction, j occurred very rarely in the prim. Indo-Germanic language. In the Germanic, as in most other Indo-Germanic languages, the frictional element in this sound became reduced, which caused it to pass into the so-called semivowel. 3. The nasals and liquids had the functions both of vowels and consonants (§ 35). 4. The essential difference between the so-called semivowels and full vowels is that the latter always bear the stress (accent) of the syllable in which they occur, e. g. in English cow, stain the first element of the diphthong is a vowel, the second a consonant; but in words like French rwá (written roi), bjár (written biere), the first element of the diphthong is a consonant, the second a vowel. In consequence of this twofold function, a diphthong may be defined as the combination of a sonantal with a consonantal vowel. And it is called a falling or rising diphthong according as the stress is upon the first or second element. In this book the second element of diphthongs E 2