Grimm's law

1 9.9

A rule explaining how consonant sounds in English and German changed compared with Latin and Greek

noun
/ɡrɪmz lɔ/

Specialized

: ley de Grimm

According to Grimm's law, English 'father' is related to Latin 'pater' and Greek 'pater'.

Examples

The principle of Grimm's law illustrates how certain consonants in Germanic languages change from their original forms.
Many linguistics students study Grimm's law to understand the consonant shifts in Germanic languages.
The discovery of Grimm's law was a significant milestone in the field of comparative linguistics.
According to Grimm's law, the sound shifts in Germanic languages are systematic.
Many linguists study Grimm's law to understand language evolution.
Many linguistics students study Grimm's law to understand the regular consonant shifts in Germanic languages.
According to Grimm's law, the consonant sounds in words evolve systematically compared to other Indo-European languages.

Surface Forms

Grimm's law singular

Grimm's laws plural

Morphology

Grimm's + law

The phrase pairs a proper name ('Grimm's') with 'law', so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer it denotes a rule or principle named after someone. However, the specific meaning (regular consonant shifts in Germanic languages) is technical and not derivable from the constituents, so the detailed sense remains unpredictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Grimm's law is named after Jacob Grimm, who noticed the same change in consonant sounds again and again — for example Latin 'pater' has p where English 'father' has f. That's why the name means a regular 'rule' about how consonant sounds shifted in languages like English and German.