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Holtzmann's law is a Proto-Germanic sound law originally noted by Adolf Holtzmann in 1838.

The law involves the gemination, or doubling, of PIE semivowels (glides) * -y- and * -w- in strong prosodic positions into Proto-Germanic * -jj- and * -ww-, which had two outcomes:

hardening into occlusive onsets:
- -ggj-/-ggw- in North Germanic;
- -ddj-/-ggw- in East Germanic
vocalization of the first semivowel, its addition to a diphthong, and division of the diphthong and remaining semivowel into two separate segments in West Germanic.

The process is brought about by the fact that vowels (or semivowels) in the syllable margin are invariably transformed into consonantal articulations.^[1]

The conditions of the sound change were long debated, since there was a seemingly random distribution of affected and unaffected words. At first, dependence on word accent was assumed, parallel to Verner's Law. One currently accepted solution, first proposed by Smith (1941),^[2] postulates dependency on the presence of a PIE laryngeal, which when lost, triggered lengthening as if the semivowels were vowels, and forced them into the syllable margin.

According to Lehmann (1955),^[3] the lengthening occurs in the contexts of PIE * -VwH-, * -iyH-, * -ayH-, * -aHy- (where V is any short vowel, and H is any laryngeal).

For example, PIE *drewh₂yo → early Proto-Germanic *trewwjaz "trustworthy, faithful" →:

*triwwjaz: Old Norse tryggr, Gothic triggws
*triuwjaz: Old English trēowe, Old High German gitriuwi.

One instance where a laryngeal was never present is PIE *h₂ōwyóm "egg", but after the loss of * -w-, the * -y- shifted into the syllable margin, giving:

with hardening:
- *ajjis: Crimean Gothic ada (pl.) (*addi (sg.) < *ajjis)
- *ajjaN: Old Norse egg
with diphthongization:
- *aijaz^[4]: German Ei, Old English ǣġ

Alternative views

Some linguists (e.g. Joseph Voyles)^[5] hold that Holtzmann's Law represents two separate and independent sound changes, one applying to Gothic and another to Old Norse, rather than being a common innovation. This is supported by James Marchand's^[6] observation that a Runic inscription (niuwila on the Naesbjaerg bracteat of the 5th century) and an early loan into Finnic (*kuva "picture", cf. Gothic skuggwa) do not exhibit this change. If true, this would prevent Holtzmann's law being used as an example of early Gotho-Nordic unity, in which context it is often cited. Voyles's explanations of the changes do not involve laryngeal theory.

Notes

^ Natalie Operstein, Consonantal Structure and Prevocalization (John Benjamins, 2010), 91.
^ Henry Lee Smith, Jr., The Verschärfung in Germanic, Language 17 (1941), 93-9.
^ Winfred P. Lehmann, Proto-Indo-European Phonology (1955), chapter 4: 'Lengthened /w/ and /y/ in the Gmc. Dialects'[1]
^ The plurals OHG eigir and OE ǣgru exhibit an s-stem; [2].
^ Joseph B. Voyles, Early Germanic Grammar (San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1992), 25-6.
^ James Marchand, The Sounds and Phonemes of Wulfila's Gothic, The Hague: Mouton (1973), 87.

William M. Austin, Germanic Reflexes of Indo-European -Hy- and -Hw-, Language (1958), 203-211.
L. C. Smith, What's all the fuss about 16 words? A new approach to Holtzmann's law Göttinger Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 1.
L. C. Smith, Holtzmann's law: getting to the hart of the Germanic verscharfung, University of Calgary thesis, ISBN 0-612-24623-X (1997).

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''Holtzmann's law''' is a [[Proto-Germanic]] [[sound law]] originally noted by [[Adolf Holtzmann]] in [[1838]].
-The law affects the doubling, or [[gemination]], of [[PIE]] ''{{PIE|* -y-}}'' and ''{{PIE|* -w-}}'' to [[Proto-Germanic]] ''{{lang|gem|* -jj-}}'' and ''{{lang|gem|* -ww-}}'', which further "hardened" to ''{{lang|gem|-ggj-}}''/''{{lang|gem|-ggw-}}'' in [[North Germanic|Northern]] and to  ''{{lang|gem|-ddj-}}''/''{{lang|gem|-ggw-}}'' in [[East Germanic|Eastern]] dialects, while in [[West Germanic]] the group results in a diphthong.
+The law involves the [[gemination]], or doubling, of [[PIE]] [[semivowel]]s (glides) ''{{PIE|* -y-}}'' and ''{{PIE|* -w-}}'' in strong [[prosody|prosodic]] positions into [[Proto-Germanic]] ''{{lang|gem|* -jj-}}'' and ''{{lang|gem|* -ww-}}'', which had two outcomes:
+* hardening into [[occlusive]] [[onset]]s:
+** ''{{lang|gem|-ggj-}}''/''{{lang|gem|-ggw-}}'' in [[North Germanic]];
+** ''{{lang|gem|-ddj-}}''/''{{lang|gem|-ggw-}}'' in [[East Germanic]]
+* vocalization of the first semivowel, its addition to a [[diphthong]], and division of the diphthong and remaining semivowel into two separate segments in [[West Germanic]].
+The process is brought about by the fact that vowels (or semivowels) in the syllable margin are invariably transformed into consonantal articulations.<ref>Natalie Operstein, ''Consonantal Structure and Prevocalization'' (John Benjamins, 2010), 91.</ref>
-The conditions of the sound change were long debated, since there is a seemingly random distribution of affected and unaffected words. At first, dependence on word accent was assumed, parallel to [[Verner's Law]]. One currently accepted solution, first proposed by Smith (1941), postulates dependency on the presence of a PIE [[laryngeal theory|laryngeal]].
+The conditions of the sound change were long debated, since there was a seemingly random distribution of affected and unaffected words. At first, dependence on word accent was assumed, parallel to [[Verner's Law]]. One currently accepted solution, first proposed by Smith (1941),<ref>Henry Lee Smith, Jr., ''The Verschärfung in Germanic'', Language 17 (1941), 93-9.</ref> postulates dependency on the presence of a PIE [[laryngeal theory|laryngeal]], which when lost, triggered lengthening as if the semivowels were vowels, and forced them into the syllable margin.
-According to Lehmann (2007), the lengthening occurs as in the contexts of PIE ''{{PIE|* -VwH-}}'', ''{{PIE|* -iyH-}}'', ''{{PIE|* -ayH-}}'', ''{{PIE|* -aHy-}}'' (where ''V'' is any short vowel, and ''H'' is any laryngeal).
+According to Lehmann (1955),<ref>Winfred P. Lehmann, ''Proto-Indo-European Phonology'' (1955), chapter 4: 'Lengthened /w/ and /y/ in the Gmc. Dialects'[http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/books/piep04.html]</ref> the lengthening occurs in the contexts of PIE ''{{PIE|* -VwH-}}'', ''{{PIE|* -iyH-}}'', ''{{PIE|* -ayH-}}'', ''{{PIE|* -aHy-}}'' (where ''V'' is any short vowel, and ''H'' is any laryngeal).
+For example, PIE *''{{PIE|drewh₂yo}}'' → early Proto-Germanic *''trewwjaz'' "trustworthy, faithful" →:
-An example is Old Norse ''tryggr'' "trustworthy, faithful", Gothic ''triggws'' vs. Old English ''trēowe'', Old High German gi''triuwi'', all from Proto-Germanic *''triwwiz'', *''triwwijaz'', from PIE *''{{PIE|drewh₂-yo}}''.
+* *''triwwjaz'': Old Norse ''tryggr'', Gothic ''triggws''
+* *''triuwjaz'': Old English ''trēowe'', Old High German gi''triuwi''.
+One instance where a laryngeal was never present is PIE *''h₂ōwyóm'' "egg", but after the loss of ''{{PIE|* -w-}}'', the ''{{PIE|* -y-}}'' shifted into the syllable margin, giving:
-The word ''[[:wikt:egg|egg]]'' is problematic:  Crimean Gothic ''ada'' (*''addjis''), Old Norse ''egg'', German ''Ei'', Old English ''ǣġ'' may be from Proto-Germanic *''ajjaN'', from PIE *''h₂ōwyóm''. The plurals Old High German ''eigir'', Old English ''ǣgru'' exhibit an ''s''-stem, Proto-Germanic *''ajjaz''.[http://www.indoeuropean.nl/cgi-bin/startq.cgi?flags=endnnnl&root=leiden&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cpokorny]
+* with hardening:
+** *''ajjis'': Crimean Gothic ''ada'' (pl.) (*''addi'' (sg.) < *''ajjis'')
+** *''ajjaN'': Old Norse ''egg''
+* with diphthongization:
+** *''aijaz''<ref>The plurals OHG ''eigir'' and OE ''ǣgru'' exhibit an ''s''-stem; [http://www.indoeuropean.nl/cgi-bin/startq.cgi?flags=endnnnl&root=leiden&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cpokorny].</ref>: German ''Ei'', Old English ''ǣġ''
 == Alternative views ==
-Some linguists (e.g. [[Joseph Voyles]])<ref>Early Germanic Grammar, pp25-6</ref> hold that Holtzmann's Law represents two separate and independent sound changes, one applying to [[Gothic language|Gothic]] and another to [[Old Norse]], rather than being a common innovation. This is supported by [[James Marchand]]'s<ref>The sounds and phonemes of Wulfila's Gothic, p87</ref> observation that a [[Proto-Norse|Runic]] inscription (''niuwila'' on the Naesbjaerg bracteat of the 5th century) and an early loan into [[Finnic languages|Finnic]] (*''kuva'' "picture", cf. Gothic ''skuggwa'') do not exhibit this change. If true, this would prevent Holtzmann's law being used as an example of early [[Gotho-Nordic]] unity, in which context it is often cited. Voyles's explanations of the changes do not involve [[laryngeal theory]].
+Some linguists (e.g. [[Joseph Voyles]])<ref>Joseph B. Voyles, ''Early Germanic Grammar'' (San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1992), 25-6.</ref> hold that Holtzmann's Law represents two separate and independent sound changes, one applying to [[Gothic language|Gothic]] and another to [[Old Norse]], rather than being a common innovation. This is supported by [[James Marchand]]'s<ref>James Marchand, ''The Sounds and Phonemes of Wulfila's Gothic'', The Hague: Mouton (1973), 87.</ref> observation that a [[Proto-Norse|Runic]] inscription (''niuwila'' on the Naesbjaerg bracteat of the 5th century) and an early loan into [[Finnic languages|Finnic]] (*''kuva'' "picture", cf. Gothic ''skuggwa'') do not exhibit this change. If true, this would prevent Holtzmann's law being used as an example of early [[Gotho-Nordic]] unity, in which context it is often cited. Voyles's explanations of the changes do not involve [[laryngeal theory]].
-== References ==
+== Notes ==
 <references/>
 * William M. Austin, ''Germanic Reflexes of Indo-European -Hy- and -Hw-'', [[Language (journal)|Language]] (1958), 203-211.
-* Winfred P. Lehmann, ''Proto-Indo-European Phonology'' (1955), chapter 4: 'Lengthened /w/ and /y/ in the Gmc. Dialects'[http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/books/piep04.html]
-*James Marchand, ''The sounds and phonemes of Wulfila's Gothic'', The Hague: Mouton (1973)
-*Henry Lee Smith, Jr., ''The Verschärfung in Germanic'', Language 17 (1941), 93-9
 *L. C. Smith, ''What's all the fuss about 16 words? A new approach to Holtzmann's law'' Göttinger Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 1.
 *L. C. Smith, ''Holtzmann's law: getting to the hart of the Germanic verscharfung'', University of Calgary thesis, ISBN 0-612-24623-X (1997).
-*Joseph B. Voyles, ''Early Germanic Grammar", San Diego: Harcourt Brace, ISBN 0-12-728270-X (1992).
 == See also ==