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| | Germanic languages -> Common Characteristics on Encyclopedia.com 2002 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16) |
 | | Strong evidence for the unity of all the modern Germanic languages can be found in the phenomenon known as the first Germanic sound shift or consonant shift (also called Grimm's law), which set the Germanic subfamily apart from the other members of the Indo-European family. |
 | | Consisting of a regular shifting of consonants in groups, the sound shift had already occurred by the time adequate records of the various Germanic languages began to be made in the 7th to 9th cent. |
 | | For example, the sounds p, d, t, and k in the former became f, t, th, and h respectively in the latter, as in Latin pater, English father; Latin dent, English tooth; and Latin cornu, English horn. |
| www.encyclopedia.com /html/section/GermancLan_CommonCharacteristics.asp (574 words) |
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