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Gothic and Germanic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Joseph B. Voyles
Joseph B. Voyles*
Affiliation:
University of Washington
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Abstract

In §1, a reconsideration of the orthographic evidence for Gothic yields a synchronic distinctive-feature analysis of its phonology. In §2, a general procedure is proposed for determining a Stammbaum, by positing that tree which assumes the fewest rules of sound change from the proto-language to the dialects. In considering the diachronic rules of early Germanic, North and West Germanic are shown to share more rules than do North Germanic and Gothic. Hence the optimal tree must split first into a North-West Germanic branch and an East Germanic one. Available non-linguistic evidence (§3) supports this view.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , December 1968 , pp. 720 - 746
Copyright
Copyright © 1968 by Linguistic Society of America

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