Re: [tied] PIE Word Formation Q&A (1)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Sean Whalen <stlatos@...> wrote:

> Andrew Sihler says this is metathesis from *ulh- but
> since I believe Hittite hu often stands for xW or GW
> (as ku can equal kW or gW) I think it's more likely
> w>GW before l in Hittite. Also, if *h2wl.h1-náh2 then
> likely Greek *awl- or *aul- instead.

There is a rule, recently formulated and exemplified by Hinge, that
initial laryngeals fail to vocalise in Greek before a heavy syllable
containing a syllabic consonant. It solves a number of hitherto
baffling cases like e.g. *h2n.h2-tj(a)h2 > ne:ssa 'duck'. If
*h2wl.h1-n-o/ah2- had a syllable division between *h1 and *n, Hinge's
rule works and no arbitrary metathesis is needed.

Piotr