On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 10:55:31 -0700 (PDT),
enlil@... wrote:
>So in *pxte:r for example, the *r would be tapped behind the
>teeth with the apex of the tongue. If a following *s was alveolar
>however, *r would produce interference, making *s sound like
>[S]. As a result, a previous form *pxte:rs should be pronounced
>with an Icelandic accent. Ask yourself: How would Björk say it? :)
This is of course completely backwards. It's alveolar /r/
which causes /s/ to become /S/. I'm not aware of this
occurring in Icelandic, but it's certainly what happens in
Swedish. It's also what happened with /rs/ in languages
affected by the ruki-rule, etc.
Besides, what's the problem anyway? The nominative ending
*-s (perhaps still *-z) disappears after _all_ PIE sonorants
except /w/. Since that includes /y/ and /m/, the whole
thing obviously has nothing to do with alveolarity/
dentality.
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...