High German Consonant Shift - Overview Table

Overview Table

The effects of the shift are most obvious for the non-specialist when comparing Modern German lexemes containing shifted consonants with their Modern English or Dutch unshifted equivalents. The following overview table is arranged according to the original Proto-Indo-European (PIE) phonemes. (G=Grimm's law; V=Verner's law) Note that the pairs of words used to illustrate sound shifts must be cognates; they need not be semantic equivalents. German Zeit means 'time' but it is cognate with tide, and only the latter is relevant here.

PIE→Germanic Phase High German Shift
Germanic→OHG		 Examples (Modern German) Century Geographical Extent1 Standard
German?		 Standard
Dutch?
G: *b→*p 1 *p→ff schlafen, Schiff
cf. sleep, ship		 4/5 Upper and Central German Yes No
2 *p→pf Pflug, Apfel, Pfad, Pfuhl, scharf 2
cf. plough, apple, path, pool, sharp		 6/7 Upper German Yes No
G: *d→*t 1 *t→ss essen, dass, aus 3
cf. eat, that, out		 4/5 Upper and Central German Yes No
2 *t→ts Zeit4, Zwei4, Zehe
cf. tide, two, toe		 5/6 Upper German Yes No
G: *g→*k 1 *k→ch machen, brechen, ich
cf. make, break, Dutch ik "I" 5		 4/5 Upper and Central German Yes No
2 *k→kch Bavarian: Kchind
cf. German Kind "child"		 7/8 Southernmost Austro-Bavarian
and High Alemannic		 No No
G: *bʰ→*β
V: *p→*β		 *β→b geben, weib
cf. give, wife, Dutch geven, wijf		 7/8 Upper and Central German Yes No
G: *dʰ→*ð
V: *t→*ð		 *ð→d gut, English good, Dutch goed
cf. Icelandic góður		 2-4 Throughout West Germanic Yes Yes
G: *gʰ→*ɣ
V: *k→*ɣ		 *ɣ→g gut
cf. Dutch goed		 7/8 Upper and Central German Yes No
G: (*bʰ→)*β→*b
V: (*p→)*β→*b		 3 *b→p Bavarian: perg, pist
cf. German Berg "hill", bist "(you) are"		 8/9 Parts of Bavarian/Alemanic No No
G: (*dʰ→)*ð→*d
V: (*t→)*ð→*d		 3 *d→t Tag, Mittel, Vater
cf. day, middle, Dutch vader "father"6		 8/9 Upper German Yes No
G: (*gʰ→)*ɣ→*g
V: (*k→)*ɣ→*g		 3 *g→k Bavarian: Kot
cf. German Gott "God"		 8/9 Parts of Bavarian/Alemanic No No
G: *t→þ 4 þ→ð→d Dorn, Distel, durch, Bruder
cf. thorn, thistle, through, brother		 9/10 Throughout continental West Germanic Yes Yes

Notes:

  1. Approximate, isoglosses may vary.
  2. Old High German scarph, Middle High German scharpf.
  3. Old High German ezzen, daz, ūz.
  4. Note that in modern German is pronounced /ts/.
  5. Old English ic, "I".
  6. Old English fæder, "father"; English has shifted d→th in a few OE words ending in vowel + -der.

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