Re: [tied] Metathesis in sonant+ labiovelars, Greek

From: Sean Whalen
Message: 37094
Date: 2005-04-12

--- "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@...> wrote:
> Let me pick three words as example: nyx, onyx, lykos
>
> IE *n.kWt- > *nukt- > Greek nyx (nykt-) "night"
> IE *H3o-n.gWH- > *o-nugH- > Greek onyx (onykh-)
> "nail"
> IE *wl.kWos > *wluko- > Greek lykos "wolf"

> My question is:
> These shifts represent a regular trend in IE>Greek
> (sonant+labiovelar > sonant+u+velar) or may be loans
> from another IE language (but very close to Greek)

Are these your own reconstructions? The oldest
posited forms above create misleading conclusions. I
think it goes more like this:

nok^t-
nokt-
nukt-
nykt-

H3nogWh-
H3.nogWh-
onogWh-
onogh-
onugh-
onukh-
onykh-

H1ulkWo-
ulkWo-
lukWo-
luko-
lyko-

That is, there's only metathesis in lukos, but not the
kind you show. The u in the other words comes from
rounding/raising of *o between certain consonants
(usually sonorant and/or round, as in onyma, gymnos-).


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