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Grimm's Law was a sound change that turned k into h when Proto-Germanic split off from Proto-Indo-European. The original form was something like *kwel which tur
by canjobear 5y ago
Grimm's Law was a sound change that turned k into h when Proto-Germanic split off from Proto-Indo-European. The original form was something like *kwel which turned into *hwel in Proto-Germanic, then eventually wheel in English and hjul in Scandinavian languages.
The other words (chakra, circle, cycle) are from some kind of reduplicated form like *kwekwlos, via different routes.
- dotancohen 5y agoThis is easily seen today in e.g. Norwegian Kval and English Whale, which still sound similar enough to appear related even to the layman.
- jeofken 5y agoThanks! It reminds me of how western Norwegians (Bergen, Stavanger etc) say a hard K sound when I think a H sound would be “normal”. Maybe they just never changed?