Editing Verner's law (section)

==Areal connections==
An exact parallel to Verner's law is found in the neighboring [[Finnic languages]], where it forms a part of the system of [[consonant gradation]]: a single voiceless consonant (*p, *t, *k, *s) becomes weakened (*b, *d, *g; *h < *z) when occurring after an unstressed syllable. As word stress in Finnic is predictable (primary stress on the initial syllable, secondary stress on odd-numbered non-final syllables), and has remained so since [[Proto-Uralic]], this change did not produce any alternation in the shape of word roots. However, it manifests in the shape of numerous inflectional or derivational suffixes, and is therefore called "suffixal gradation".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Johanna|last=Laakso|year=2023|encyclopedia=The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages|chapter=Finnic|page=243|editor1-first=Marianne|editor1-last=Bakró-Nagy|editor2-first=Johanna|editor2-last=Laakso|editor3-first=Elena|editor3-last=Skribnik|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-876766-4}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable
|+ Suffixal gradation in the Finnish partitive case
|-
! Meaning
! Pre-Proto-Finnic
! [[Proto-Finnic]]
! modern [[Finnish language|Finnish]]
|-
| 'tree' ([[nominative case|nom.]] : [[partitive case|part.]])
| *{{lang|urj|puu}} : *ˈ{{lang|urj|puu-ta}}
| *puu : *puuta
| {{lang|fi|puu}} : {{lang|fi|puuta}}
|-
| 'hut, teepee' (nom. : part.)
| *ˈ{{lang|urj|kota}} : *ˈ{{lang|urj|kota-ta}}
| *ˈkota : *ˈkotada
| {{lang|fi|kota}} : {{lang|fi|kotaa}}
|-
| 'blind' (nom. : part.)
| *ˈ{{lang|urj|soketa}} : *ˈ{{lang|urj|sokeˌta-ta}}
| *ˈsokeda : *ˈsokeˌdata
| {{lang|fi|sokea}} : {{lang|fi|sokeata}} ~ {{lang|fi|sokeaa}}
|}

Lauri Posti argued that suffixal gradation in Finnic represents Germanic influence, in particular reflecting the pronunciation of Proto-Finnic by a hypothetical Germanic-speaking [[superstrate]] (often assumed to account for the great number of Germanic loanwords already in Proto-Finnic).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Posti|first=Lauri|date=1953|title=From Pre-Finnic to Late Proto-Finnic|journal=Finnisch-Ugrische Forschungen|volume=XXXI|pages=1–91 (74–82)}}</ref> On the contrary, consonant gradation has also been viewed as inheritance from [[Proto-Uralic]], as it occurs also in other Uralic languages. In particular, suffixal gradation under identical conditions also exists in [[Nganasan language|Nganasan]]. The possibility of the opposite direction of influence – from Finnic to Germanic – has also been suggested.<ref>{{cite book |first=Petri |last=Kallio |year=2000 |chapter=Posti's Superstrate Theory at the Threshold of a New Millennium |editor-first=Johanna |editor-last=Laakso |title=Facing Finnic: Some Challenges to Historical and Contact Linguistics |series=Castrenianumin toimitteita |volume=59 }}</ref>