Re: [tied] Greek double-sigma / double-tau

I answered a similar question at length some time ago. I'll try to find the relevant posting(s) in our vast archives. Briefly: -tt-/-ss- reflect as old affricate (not unlike "ch" in English) from still older *-tj- or *-kj-. (Cf. gotcha < got ya).

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: Eris

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 12:07 AM

Subject: [tied] Greek double-sigma / double-tau

Hello all, Concerning the double-sigma/double-tau in Old Greek (for example, thalassa versus thalatta): Which was the original form, ss or tt? What was the IE "root sound"? In which dialects, exactly, and at what time(s) during the course of "old Greek" did it change from one to the other? Is there any particular reason for the change(s), or was it just a run-of-the-mill sound shift? Is there any easy way for someone actively studying old Greek morphology and syntax (me :) to tell when the change has occurred in a word, just by looking at a word and not knowing anything about the word? Were the phonemes of the double-sigma and double-tau rearticulated (e.g., "two unvoiced dental stops 'right in a row'"), or was the first phoneme in each said and then "held on to". (I don't know the term for that, obviously, I'm sure you can figure out what I mean.) Concerning specifically the word thalassa/thalatta, was that a native word before the Greeks moved in? (If so, did it mean "sea" previously as well? And what is the oldest known form of it written?) I haven't been able to find a cognate in other languages is why I ask. TiA, Lisa

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