Re: b/m alternation in Thacian, Illyria and Abanian

> Yes, you have right. In anlaut, mb- is a result of *H1en- + b that
> ended in Albanian as mb-, in Gheg as m-, getting later anaptytic
> homorganic sound /b/ (cf. also Tosk pas 'after' and Gheg m(b)
> as 'id.'. Also in auslaut *kWr.mi- 'worm' > Alb Gheh krym (i > y
> bemolization caused by bilabial nasal /m/), Tosk krimb, where /b/ is
> again anaptytic homorganic sound.
> In case of b/m alternation in Thracian, Illyrian and Albanian I think
> that we have to deal with dialectal characteristic, that has nothing
> to do with anaptytic homorganic sound /b/.

That was one fast decision. Are you sure the facts can't be rearranged
to do without that *h1en- prefix? What bothers me is that the PIE root
*(h1)en normally means 'in', but in those cases where it is assumed in
Albanian it seems to add no extra meaning to the word it's prefixed
to, and further, if Gheg and Tosk have (today) an alternation b-/mb-
(p-/mb-?) and there was a similar b/m alternation in Thracian,
Illyrian and Albanian, why can't they have a similar origin?


Torsten