Sievers's law

proper noun

A rule in Indo-European linguistics that accounts for the pronunciation of a consonant cluster with a glide (*w or *y) before a vowel as it was affected by the phonetics of the preceding syllable.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. Indo European studiesA rule in Indo-European linguistics that accounts for the pronunciation of a consonant cluster with a glide (*w or *y) before a vowel as it was affected by the phonetics of the preceding syllable.

Origin

Named after the philologist Eduard Sievers (1850–1932).

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Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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