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.