GRIMM'S LAW • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Grimm's law

... given, we must continue to look upon them, not as the result of phonetic decay, but of dialectic growth. Iam glad to find that this is more and more admitted by those who think for themselves, instead of simply repeating the opinions of others. Grimm's Law stands no longer alone, as peculiar to the Teutonic languages, but analogous changes have been pointed out in the South-African, the Chinese, the Polynesian dialects, showing that these changes are everywhere ...

— Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV - Essays chiefly on the Science of Language • Max Muller