Early English Fricatives

The aim of this paper is to render a detailed picture
of the early formation of English fricatives from the
Indo-European period till the threshold of Middle
English with emphasis on the Germanic period. After
presenting different theories of the Indo-European
consonantal inventory, I discuss the two famous
Germanic sound laws: Grimm s Law and Verner s Law.
These sound changes have been debated for a long
time, and their acceptance among scholars is not
uniform at all. Following the chronological line of
my discussion, the next step is a presentation of the
fricative system of Proto-Germanic. To reconstruct
the Proto-Germanic consonantal inventory, it is
necessary to examine its dialects as well. I examine
Gothic closely from this point of view, as I had the
opportunity to study it in the course of my
university studies. Thereafter I continue my
discussion with the Old English fricative-system.
The second part of my thesis is devoted to a central
topic strongly debated among historical linguists:
the status of voice. My aim is to reconsider the
standpoint generally accepted with the help of Karl
Luick s theorem, which has been ignored for a long
time.

Autorentext

Pál Kovács (Budapest, 1980-): M.A. in English Language andLiterature (2006, ELTE, Budapest), in Spanish Language andLiterature (2009, ELTE, Budapest) and in Theology (2009, Sapientia,Budapest). Author of articles on Modern Spanish Literature(Miguel de Unamuno, José Camilo Cela and Luis Martín-Santos).

Klappentext

The aim of this paper is to render a detailed pictureof the early formation of English fricatives from theIndo-European period till the threshold of MiddleEnglish with emphasis on the Germanic period. Afterpresenting different theories of the Indo-Europeanconsonantal inventory, I discuss the two famousGermanic sound laws: Grimm's Law and Verner's Law. These sound changes have been debated for a longtime, and their acceptance among scholars is notuniform at all. Following the chronological line ofmy discussion, the next step is a presentation of thefricative system of Proto-Germanic. To reconstructthe Proto-Germanic consonantal inventory, it isnecessary to examine its dialects as well. I examineGothic closely from this point of view, as I had theopportunity to study it in the course of myuniversity studies. Thereafter I continue mydiscussion with the Old English fricative-system. The second part of my thesis is devoted to a centraltopic strongly debated among historical linguists:the status of voice. My aim is to reconsider thestandpoint generally accepted with the help of KarlLuick's theorem, which has been ignored for a longtime.