sound law

sound law

English

Alternative forms

• sound-law (archaic)

Etymology

Calque of German Lautgesetz.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsaʊnd lɔː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsaʊnd lɔ/, (cot–caught merger) /ˈsaʊnd lɑ/

Noun

sound law (plural sound laws)

1. (phonology) A rule that describes historical sound change (the change in pronunciation of a given sound or cluster of sounds) in the development of a language. [from 19th c.]
   • 1877, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, page 118.

     Then, to oversimplify, if there are similarities in sound and meaning between two words that do not obey the sound laws that have been established, we conclude that they have resulted from borrowing.

   • 1940, Ainsley Maxwell Carlton, A Relative Chronology of Old Icelandic Sound Laws, Leland Stanford Junior University, page 114,

     In conclusion, we present the sound laws of Old Icelandic in the chronological order which represents the results of this dissertation.

   • 2000, Andrew L. Sihler, Language History, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 50,

     For reasons that will become clear shortly, this limitation of sound laws to a specific time is an important trait.

Translations

rule that describes historical sound change in a language

Armenian: հնչյունական օրենք (hy) (hnčʿyunakan ōrenkʿ) Dutch: klankwet (nl) f Finnish: äännelaki French: loi phonétique f German: Lautgesetz (de) n Greek: φωνητικός νόμος m (fonitikós nómos) Hungarian: hangtörvény (hu) Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Polish: proces fonetyczny m, zjawisko fonetyczne n Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Russian: фонети́ческий зако́н m (fonetíčeskij zakón) Spanish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• aphaeresis, apheresis
• apocope
• assimilation
• dissimilation
• elision
• epenthesis
• haplology
• lenition
• metathesis
• nasalisation, nasalization
• phonological change
• prothesis
• tonogenesis
• sandhi
• syncope

Further reading

• Great Vowel Shift on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Canaanite shift on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Grimm's law on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• High German consonant shift on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• I-mutation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Phonological change on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Verner's law on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• ould wans