On 05-03-22 15:07, elmeras2000 wrote:
> That is exactly the point. How did you decide? Can you point to an
> example of a word with a retained long vowel before /mn/ from *-gWn-
> in Greek? I can't find any pertinent material one way or the other.
We have examples of unshortened vowels before /gn/ < *-g(^)n- and before
/mn/ < *-mn-. In principle, there is no shortening if the cluster in
question would have been permitted word-initially in (pre-)Greek, which
is true of /Kn/ clusters as a class, rare as individual cases may be.
Osthoff's Law prevents the formation of a superheavy syllable, but there
is no such danger if both consonants can be syllabified with the
following vowel.
Piotr