Re: R°H in Latin, was: [tied] Re: Brugmann's Law

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 51686
Date: 2008-01-21

On 2008-01-21 00:25, Mate Kapović wrote:

> Of course there are also aR-reflections according to Pedersen. Cf. Lat.
> antae ~ Skr. á:ta:, Lat. arduus ~ Skr. u:rdhvás.

These look like HR.H- combinations to me -- possibly another special
case. Latin, untypically, is believed to distinguish the laryngeal
colours in *HR.C- (though there is one troublesome exception: ursus <
*h2r.tk^o-), so it's possible that *h2R.HC- > *&2RHC- > *aR&C- > aRC,
with the weak vowel syncopated in some words (depending on phonotactic
preferences). Thus, e.g., *h2r.h1-mó- (Skt. i:rmá) could give Lat. armus
directly, without a secondary full grade in the root. I wonder if such a
development should not be posited for all IE branches, including
Germanic (*&r&ma- > *arma-) and Balto-Slavic (*&r&m- > Baltic *írm-,
Slavic *órm-).

Piotr