I just posted a paper, but I think that this should be more approachable for people here. It shows a rather interesting pattern between Germanic languages (English, German, Icelandic, Gothic…) and most other Indo-European languages, caused by a sound change. A few examples using Latin vs. English:
- pēs (foot) vs. foot
- trēs (three) vs. three
- canis (dog) vs. hound; see German “Hund” dog for reference
- decem (ten) vs. ten
- gelū (ice) vs. cold
- frāter (brother) vs. brother
Note how the consonants look like they went a “merry-go-round” from one language to another:
- Latin fricative vs. English voiced stop
- Latin voiced stop vs. English voiceless stop
- Latin voiceless stop vs. English fricative
That’s all caused by the regular sound changes explained in the Wiki link.
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