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Just as linguists have worked out characteristics that Dutch, English and German have in common, they have also come to understand differences between German and the other Indo-Germanic languages. The most important of these is the shift in pronunciation of the Indo-European sounds p, t, and k to f, th (English th) and ch. (Examples: Latin pater and English father, Latin nepos and German Neffe.) German also exhibits another difference in pronunciation; in German, most words are stressed on the first syllable. Early German poets therefore rhymed on the first syllable, which in German is called “Stabreim” (alliteration). This is still common in popular usage, as in the phrase “mit Kind und Kegel” (“the whole kit and caboodle”).

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