Grimm's law

American  

noun

Linguistics.

1. the statement of the regular pattern of consonant correspondences presumed to represent changes from Proto-Indo-European to Germanic, according to which voiced aspirated stops became voiced obstruents, voiced unaspirated stops became unvoiced stops, and unvoiced stops became unvoiced fricatives: first formulated in 1820–22 by Jakob Grimm, though the facts had been noted earlier by Rasmus Rask.

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Grimm's law British  

/ ɡrɪmz /

noun

1. the rules accounting for systematic correspondences between consonants in the Germanic languages and consonants in other Indo-European languages; it states that Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirated stops, voiced unaspirated stops, and voiceless stops became voiced unaspirated stops, voiceless stops, and voiceless fricatives respectively

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Etymology

Origin of Grimm's law

formulated by Jakob _Grimm

Example Sentences

This sound change was not random but followed what came to be called Grimm's law, named for the very same brother Grimm who brought us "Hansel and Gretel."

From Salon • Jun. 18, 2022

The most lawless etymologist bows down to the authority of Grimm’s law, even if he honours it almost as much in the breach as in the observance.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various

I do not know whether Grimm's law would authorise the antithesis of a d for a p sound, but every student of Romaic will allow the tendency that i and o sounds have for interchanging.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 110, December 6, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

The laws of consonantal change in many cases produce the same result as Grimm's law, but the laws themselves are entirely different.

From The Dakotan Languages, and Their Relations to Other Languages by Williamson, A. W. (Andrew Woods)

It stands on as firm a foundation as Grimm's law in philology, or the undulatory theory in molecular physics.

From Myths and myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology by Fiske, John