Abstract
The High German Consonant Shift, which turned PGerm *p, *t, *k into pf/ff, ts/ss, kx/xx, respectively, is one of the most heavily commented sound developments in the history of linguistics.
Almost all attempts at explaining the change have centered on language-internal mechanisms or
on dialect contact rather than on language contact between Germanic and Romance, but this
article is an exception. The most complex rule system involving the Consonant Shift is found in
the German Rhineland, where it is characterized by a striking asymmetry between the positions
in the word in which *p, *t and *k are affected. The asymmetry is matched across the linguistic
border by restrictions on the occurrence of affricates in early Gallo-Romance. It can be argued
that (1) this match implies a causal link, (2) Gallo-Romance probably is the point of origin, and
(3) the Consonant Shift in the Rhineland ultimately goes back to language shift from GalloRomance to Germanic in the early Middle Ages. The consequences for explaining the Consonant
Shift in other parts of the High German area are addressed as well.
Almost all attempts at explaining the change have centered on language-internal mechanisms or
on dialect contact rather than on language contact between Germanic and Romance, but this
article is an exception. The most complex rule system involving the Consonant Shift is found in
the German Rhineland, where it is characterized by a striking asymmetry between the positions
in the word in which *p, *t and *k are affected. The asymmetry is matched across the linguistic
border by restrictions on the occurrence of affricates in early Gallo-Romance. It can be argued
that (1) this match implies a causal link, (2) Gallo-Romance probably is the point of origin, and
(3) the Consonant Shift in the Rhineland ultimately goes back to language shift from GalloRomance to Germanic in the early Middle Ages. The consequences for explaining the Consonant
Shift in other parts of the High German area are addressed as well.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Language Contact in Times of Globalization |
| Editors | Cornelius Hasselblatt, Peter Houtzagers, Remco van Pareren |
| Publisher | Brill |
| Pages | 217-249 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-94-012-0043-1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-90-420-3343-6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2011 |
Publication series
| Name | Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Brill |
| Volume | 38 |
| ISSN (Print) | 0169-0124 |