High German Consonant Shift

In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the earliest written records in the High German language were made in the 9th century. The resulting language, Old High German, can be neatly contrasted with the other continental West Germanic languages, which for the most part did not experience the shift, and with Old English, which remained completely unaffected.

Read more about High German Consonant Shift:  General Description, Overview Table, Other Changes, Chronology, Geographical Distribution, Lombardic, Sample Texts, Unshifted Forms in Standard German

Famous quotes containing the words high, german and/or shift:

    All women, from the countess to the cook-maid, are put into high good humor with themselves when a man is taken with them at first sight. And be they ever so plain, they will find twenty good reasons to defend the judgment of such a man.
    Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)

    Boys hide in lunging cubes
    Crouching to explode,
    Beyond the Atlantic skies,
    With cheerful cries
    Their barking tubes
    Upon the German toad.
    Allen Tate (1899–1979)

    Let us not be dainty of leave-taking,
    But shift away.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)