Germanic Aspiration: Phonetic enhancement and language contact

The consonantism which resulted from the Germanic consonant shift has long been regarded as a defining characteristic of the family, often seen as signaling the beginning of Germanic as a separate branch of Indo-European. We argue that the crucial moment in the origin of the Germanic obstruent system lies not in the erste Lautverschiebung per se, however, but rather in the early emergence of a consistent aspect of the phonetics and phonology which characterizes most of the family down to the present day, viz., the spread glottis or aspirated nature of fortis stops. Grimm's Law, the Second Consonant Shift and a variety of less well-known changes all reflect this persistent change' rising out of the enduring 'base of articulation' that came to characterize Germanic" (Iverson & Salmons 2003). Once introduced into the system, unlike many sound changes, the germ of aspiration has persisted, never leaving the grammar in most of the languages of the family. (It has of course been lost due to external linguistic influences in the case of Romance-colored Dutch and Slavic-shaded Yiddish.) Otherwise, rather like a dormant viral infection, aspiration is inherent, residing in the body of its Germanic host all the time and erupting with special effects - the Kreislauf of the sound shifts - particularly at moments of contact or crisis-induced stress.