Re: Optional Soundlaws (was: IE *aidh- > *aus-tr- 'hot, warm (wind)'

> > > > Is this English 3-way development of OE *o: before /d/
> > > > possibly due to the preceding consonant?
>
> > > > I.e. after a labial it becomes /u:/ (<mood>, <food>),
> > > > after /l/ it becomes /V/ (<blood>, <flood>), and after
> > > > other consonants before /d/ it becomes /U/ (<good>,
> > > > <hood>)?
>
> > > <Rood> has /u:/. So has <brood>.
>
> > Oh right. Ah well.
>
> That might not be a killer argument. Initial /r/ and /wr/ merged as
> [rW]. I don't know whether initial /br/ would have been [brW].
>
> Richard.

Better counterexample: "wood" /wUd/. Also, "snood" /snu:d/ (but that's a reasonably rare word and might well not be directly inherited in all dialects).

Since English dialects aren't uniform in this treatment however, trying to decipher the original conditioning solely on the basis of Standard English is a little hopeless...

John Vertical