Re: Whore [was: [tied] Re: Brugmann's Law]

On 2008-01-18 23:47, Mate Kapović wrote:

> Anyway, /h/ is probably due to /hw/ > /h/ in front of an /o/, similar to
> <who> being [hu:] (but <what> [hwOt]). Labiovelars tend to loose their
> labial component in front of rounded vowels, it happens in Germanic,
> Greek, Latin...

But there was no *w in PGmc. *xo:raz 'adulterer' and *xo:ro:(n)-
'whore'. The <wh> spelling of Modern English is clearly secondary. In
Even the Middle English spelling is <ho(o)r(e)>, occasionally <h(o)ure>,
but NEVER anything beginning with <hw> or <wh>. Old English <hw> was
preserved before /o:/ (and /o/), as in <hwo:pan> 'threaten' or
<hwo:stan> 'cough', but <ho:re> was spelt without a <w>.

Piotr