Re: Lithuanian diphthongs

W dniu 2011-06-10 22:05, stlatos pisze:

> The proposition by Dubonis that the name of the peasant stratum
> leičiai is related to the ethnonym lietuvis (Lithuanian) received
> serious criticism from Zigmas Zinkevičius.6 Zinkevičius
> pointed out that according to accepted theory, "the diphthong ei in East
> Baltic languages would have shifted to ie if that syllable is stressed."
> Thus, in the word lei~tis the diphthong ei should have shifted to ie,
> unless the stress had originally been on the last syllable.
>
> which also discusses other problematic forms. I don't agree w his
> conclusions, but I do think Lietuvà leitis are related (and << PIE *
> Leyt.ú+ 'low / deep > lowland / depth / water'), so I'm not convinced
> that it's a "simple story".

It's as simple as any story concerning stress, accent and vocalism in
Baltic can be. Of course there are the usual debatable points, unclear
cases and potential counterexamples to be discussed and explained, but
Endzelin's Law (as it is called) is a fairly solid construct based on
securely established IE etymologies. If it is "accepted", it is not
without a reason. As regards problems of Lithuanian etymology, I would
recommend standard scholarship on Baltic historical linguistic as
introductory reading. Baranauskas in a historian, not a linguist; his
linguistic knowledge is very shallow and his argumentation may be naive
and hard to follow. However, if you think he questions Endzelin's Law in
order to save his favourite etymology, you simply misread him.

Piotr