On 2006-09-14 13:08, Piotr Gasiorowski wrote:
> (1) GL1 -- voiced aspirated stops become voiced fricatives (GLc),
> voiceless stops become voiceless fricatives (GLa); the relative ordering
> of the two components of GL1 seems to be undecidable.
>
> (2) VL
>
> (3) Prokosch's Law (PL): voiced non-sibilant fricatives become voiced
> stops before *n in medial clusters.
>
> (4) Voiced labiovelar simplification: -gWn- > -wn-.
>
> (5) Kluge's Law (KL): *n is assimilated to a preceding voiced
> stop (but only after a short nucleus).
>
> (6) GL2 -- voiced stops become devoiced.
Let me tidy it up a bit -- I was writing too hastily.
The term "Prokosch's Law" is infelicitous, since it's sometimes used
with reference to the "bimoraic condition" (the preference for heavy
stressed syllables in Germanic). Let's call it "Pre-Nasal Strengthening"
(PNS). PNS took place in the context of Verner's Law: medially, after an
unaccented syllable, voiced non-sibilant fricatives were hardened into
stops if immediately followed by *n.
A little later, the labiovelar stop *gW was eliminated from that context
(Vernerian, pre-nasal), becoming *w.
Kluge's Law (or Nasal Assimilation), as far as I can see, operated only
medially after a short nucleus before an accented syllable in "stop +
*n" clusters. The *n underwent complete assimilation to the preceding
stop, producing a geminate.
Piotr