Dahl's law

proper noun

A voicing dissimilation rule in some Northeast Bantu languages.

OriginGerman Dahlsche Gesetz →
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. human sciencesA voicing dissimilation rule in some Northeast Bantu languages.

    Bantu has been the object of appeal by adherents of Holtzmann's law (q.v.). As to Dahl's law in that group of languages, it has indeed affinities with several IE laws, but seems not unlike Grassmann's to most who quote it.

    1985 January 1, N. E. Collinge, The Laws of Indo-European, John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 279

Origin

  1. GermanDahlsche Gesetz
  2. EnglishDahl's law

Calque of German Dahlsche Gesetz, coined by Carl Meinhof.

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Dahl's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dahl's%20law

MLA

“Dahl's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dahl's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dahl's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dahl's%20law.

Source: Dahl's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.