On 2008-08-06 06:58, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> According to Fortson, PIE *s has five outcomes in Albanian,
> <sh>, <th>, <gj>, <h>, and zero, with no perceptible pattern
> accounting for all cases; this suggests that the present
> state reflects dialect mixture. Other examples of initial
> <gj> are <gjarpër> 'snake' < *serp-en-, <gjumë> 'sleep' from
> *sup-no-, and <gjashtë> '6' from *s(w)ek^s-ti-.
I'd say that (at least word-initially), <gj> (< voiced *z^) is the
prevocalic reflex of *s- in a stressed syllable and <sh> is the
"elsewhere" reflex. Note the difference between the numerals '6' and '7'
in Albanian (in that lexical class accent contrasts are particularly
well preserved).
<th> (< *ts) is explained by the sporadic confusion of old *s and *ts
(usually due to dissimilation or assimilation at a distance in words
with more than one PAlb. sibilant) and <h> either reflects *Ks/*sK or
involves no *s at all.
At any rate, gj- < *z^- < *s- is a common development.
Piotr