Re: Cowboys on Horseback (Germanic)

 

<<The change *s > *x > *h (in Greek and Iranian, but also e.g. in Brythonic Celtic) is again a rather common process.>>

 

If so, could the following process take place (theoretically and practically)?

 

                    PIE             GBS            Germanic

 

               *k            *s            *x (*h)

               *g            *z            *k

               *gh          *zh          *g

 

(GBS = Germano-Balto-Slavic)

This won't work: first, because the inherited *s and *z (i.e., the PIE voiced allophone of *s) are continued without any changes in Germanic (e.g. *suHnus gives English son, not hun);

Perhaps *s1 < *s was not phonetically equal *s2 < *k ?

secondly, because most sound changes are asymmetrical, i.e. do not normally operate in the reverse; this is particularly true of velar palatalisations. The change of a palatalised velar stop into a fricative or affricate is commonplace (cf. Russian ruka : ruchka; iskat' : ishchu, etc.; similar things have happened independently in many Slavic, Romance, Germanic, Aryan and other languages), but the change of a fricative into k would be extremely unusual. -- Piotr

As far as I can judge, both developments g > zh and zh > g are usual in Russian

    prygat' (to jump) : pryzhok (a jump)     and     lezhat' (to lie on smth.) : ljagu (I shall lie on smth.) (cf. Deutsch liegen)

 

The same can be said about k > ch and ch > k or g

    plakat' (to weep) : plachu (I weep)     and     tech (to flow) : teku (I flow) or zhech (to burn smth.) : zhgu (I burn smth.)

   

There are many native speakers of other Slavic (Slovenian, Polish, Ukrainian) and Germanic (Swedish, English, Dutch, German) languages among the list members. I wonder whether there are analogues things in these languages?

Absolute proofs can rarely be offered in historical linguistics, but your scenario requires a lot of zigzagging between kentum and satem types just in order to justify the classification of Germanic together with Balto-Slavic. This looks like desperate wiggling out of trouble.

What to say? It does. Would my wiggling be less desperate when I'd tried to prove that similarities in morphology of Germanic and Balto-Slavic were caused by fortuitous coincidences? Or by borrowing of the grammar??

 And what's happened to the RUKI rule in Germanic?

Don't know yet. I should be deeply grateful if you advise me an argument against YOUR OWN point of view.

 

--Sasha