Albanian outside the centum-satem division?
From: grzegorj2000
Message: 40145
Date: 2005-09-19
Albanian is sometimes said to be outside the centum-satem division
because, before a front vowel, (as if) *k, *g(h) preserve while *kW,
*gW(h) change into s, z.
The most known example of the preserving is Alb. kohë <
*ke:so- "time". But... Jacobson associated this word, known only
from Balto-Slavic and Albanian, with Slavic kosa "scythe", which is
from *k'os- (Sanskr. ças "cut")!
So, this word can be just a borrowing from a centum language and it
cannot be taken as a serious piece of evidence.
Is there any more convincible evidence for different development of
*K and *KW in Albanian?
Or, are there other language facts which should make us think that
Albanian is a "not-fully-Satem" language?
Of course, the presence of (numerous) centum-like words (with k <
*k^ and so on) is not a proof as they are present in every Satem
language (even in Indo-Iranian, however not very frequently there).
Grzegorz J.