• AernaLingus [any]
    ·
    16 days ago

    I really ought to read up some on historical Japanese linguistics. I did a teensy bit in uni, but it was pretty surface level because it was in a course for non-linguists. A professor of mine recommended Bjarke Frellesvig's A History of the Japanese Language so perhaps I'll start there.

    Also Grimm's law my beloved

    Also also thank you for creating and posting this meme specifically for me cat-trans

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
      hexagon
      ·
      16 days ago

      I don't know how petty this is to point out but *bʰ becoming /f/ in *bʰréh₂tēr to frater is not an example of Grimm's law — *t becoming /ð/ in *bʰréh₂tēr to brother is. Grimm's law is a specific chain shift affecting only the Germanic languages, which Latin decidedly is not an example of.

      • AernaLingus [any]
        ·
        16 days ago

        No, not petty at all! I must have glossed over the Latin part, since I know it's specifically a Germanic thing. Oh, frother!

        • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
          hexagon
          ·
          16 days ago

          Well, not just that it's a specifically Germanic thing, but that Grimm's law says that PIE *bʰ corresponds to PGmc *b, just as PIE *b corresponds to PGmc *p, and PIE *p corresponds to PGmc *f.