14-11-03 17:26, alex wrote:
> when should have happened the methathesis then? after k^> z or before?
> (I assume you see the "z" there from the "k^")
The regular reflex of *g^w in Albanian is <z> via *dz^ < *dzw (as
opposed to <dh> or <d> from *g^ alone), so both the metathesis and the
voicing must be old. I'm not sure what caused the voicing -- the
material illustrating this change is very scanty -- but since *s is
reflected as voiced <gj> from older *z^ before a stressed vowel in
Albanian (as opposed to <sh> in unstressed syllables, cf. shtatë <
*septm.'-t-a: but gjashtë < *sék^s-t-a:), I think it's just possible
that intervocalic *k^ produced a voiced reflex before a stressed vowel,
in which case the sequence of changes would have been:
*wik^- > *w(i)g^- > *wdz- > *dzw- > *dz^- > z-
This is strangely reminiscent of Latin vi:ginti:, with /g/ from *k^.
Piotr