Phrase guide

sound law

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈsaʊnd lɔː/
  • US: /ˈsaʊnd lɔ/
  • US, cot-caught-merger: /ˈsaʊnd lɑ/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A rule that describes historical sound change (the change in pronunciation of a given sound or cluster of sounds) in the development of a language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a law describing sound changes in the history of a language

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: law, natural law

Narrower terms: Grimm's law, Verner's law

History

Etymology

Calque of German Lautgesetz.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: հնչյունական օրենք (hnčʻyunakan ōrenkʻ) — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Danish: lydlov — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Dutch: klankwet — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Finnish: äännelaki — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • French: loi phonétique — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Georgian: ფონეტიკური კანონზომიერება (poneṭiḳuri ḳanonzomiereba) — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • German: Lautgesetz — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Greek: φωνητικός νόμος (fonitikós nómos) — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Hungarian: hangtörvény — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Italian: legge fonetica — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Polish: prawo głosowe — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Polish: prawo fonetyczne — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Portuguese: lei fonética — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Russian: фонети́ческий зако́н (fonetíčeskij zakón) — rule that describes historical sound change in a language
  • Spanish: ley fonética — rule that describes historical sound change in a language