Lecture 1 First Consonant Shift (Grimm’s Law) ie g aspirated Voiced voiced stops stops bh > b

c) loss of consonants
In OE:

• 
  some consonants were lost before h, f, s, Þ, and between vowels, or formed clusters ht, ft, ss or became voiceless before t: e.g. uns > ūs (нам);
  
• 
  clusters fn and fm often became mn and mm accordingly (f assimilates with nasal n). E.g.: wīfman > wimman
  
• 
  consonant d sometimes became voiceless, that is changed into t, mostly in verbs: e.g.: bindan (inf.) > bintst (2 pers., sing.)
  
• 
  h is lost in intervocal position: e.g. tīhan > tēon (звинувачувати)
  

3. 
   metathesis
   

Another process which OE consonants underwent is called metathesis, when two sounds exchanged their places. It often affected consonant r and a vowel (before or after): e.g.: Þridda > Þirda. Sometimes k and s are affected.