--- junk554 <
junk554@...> wrote:
> What I was
> wondering, and still am,
> is the reason for the unexpected initial <b> in
> Latin <barba>, a cognate
> of English <beard>.
The two theories given were bh-dh > b-dh (as in
Indo-Iranian) and assimilation (unique to this word)
either of f-b > b-b or (mine) f-f > f-v > v-v > b-b as
below:
I think the best explanation involves no PIE a and
only one case of assimilation. Looking at the changes
in order may help:
bhorzdha:x 1
bhorzdha: 2
bhordha: 3
phortha: 4
forTa: 5
forfa: 6
forva: 7
vorva: 8
borba: 9
borba 10
barba 11
Change 11 is the sporadic (but common) change of *o
to a after a rounded or labial C (w not included),
similar to the change of *o to a before w.
At stage 6 (*forfa:) the two fricatives have become
identical; the beginning of voicing in the second *f
probably caused the first to change too (sim. to bibo:
from *pib(h3)oh2).
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