Groucho Marxism

In a recent blog post I summarized some phonological conditions under which Proto-Indo-European (PIE) plain velars remained intact in the satem languages. In this blog post, I will go through these phonological conditions in a bit more detail. Specifically, I will provide evidence that in all the satem languages, palatalization of plain velars was blocked after *s and non-syllabic *n, and also before *r; in all the satem languages apart from Armenian, palatalization was blocked before *o; in Indic, palatalization was blocked before *s; in Balto-Slavic and Albanian, palatalization was blocked before resonants and *u when followed by a back vowel; and in Baltic, palatalization was blocked before *st. Let’s start with the position after *s.

Blocking of palatalization after *s was discussed recently by Woodhouse (2014) and is well attested, e.g.: *(s)kelH- ‘cut’ > Sanskrit kalā́, Armenian čelkʿem, Albanian hel, Lthuanian skeliù, Gothic skilja (Pokorny 1959:923-927); *(s)kerH- ‘cut’ > Skt. apa-skara-, Avs. čarəman-, Arm. kʿerem, Alb. shqerr, Lth. sker̃sti, Old Church Slavonic črěvo, Greek κείρω (Pok.:938-947); *(s)keuH-, *(s)kuH- ‘cover’ > Skt. skunāti, Lth. kẽvalas, Russian kútatь, Grk. σκύ̄νια (Pok.:951-953). Note that the *s was subsequently lost in many of these reflexes. As noted by Woodhouse (2014), this blocking did not operate before front vowels in Iranian, e.g.: *(s)keH₁i-, *(s)kH₁i- ‘shadow’ > Skt. chāyā́, Avs. a-saya-, Alb. hie, Latvian seja, OCS sijati, Grk. σκιά̄ (Pok.:917-918).

Blocking of palatalization after non-syllabic *n was established by Steensland (1973:88) and is also well attested, e.g.: *H₂enk- ‘bend’ > Skt. añcati, Avs. anku-, Arm. ankiwn, Lth. anka, OCS  jęčьmy, Grk. ἀγκών (Pok.:45-47), c.f. *H₂ek- ‘sharp’ > Skt. aśáni-, Avs. asəŋga-, Arm. aseɫn, Alb. athëtë, Lth. ašnìs, OCS osla, Grk. ἀκή (Pok.:19-22); *lung- ‘break’ > Alb. lungë, c.f. *leug- ~ *lug-  ‘break’ > Skt. rujáti, Avs. uruxti, Arm. lucanem, Lth. láužiu, Grk. λυγρός (Pok.:686); *meng- ~ *mong- ‘beautify’ > Skt. maṅgalá-, Ossetian mäng, Alb. mangë, Lth. mánga, Grk. μάγγανον (Pok.: 731); *spreng- ‘turn’ > Lth. sprengė́ti, c.f. *sprg- ‘turn’ > Grk. σπάργω (Pok.:991-992). Note that this blocking did not operate after *m, e.g.: *H₂emg- ‘narrow’ > Avs. ązaŋhē, OCS ǫžǫ, Hit. hamanki (Pok.: 42-43, Rix (ed.) 2001:264-265).

Blocking of palatalization before *r was also established by Steensland (1973:43), and is also well attested, e.g.: *gerH₂- ~ *grH₂- ‘shriek’ > Skt. járatē, Arm. krunk, Alb. ngurónj, Lth. gùrti, OCS graču, Grk. γέρην (Pok.:383-385); *kerH₂- ~ *korH₂- ~ *krH₂- ‘shriek’ > Skt. śāri-, krkara-, Arm. sareak, karkač̣, Alb. sorrë, Lth. šárka, kirkiù, OCS soraka, krъknǫti, Grk. κέρκαξ (Pok.:567-671); *suekruH₂ ~ *suekurH₂ ‘in-law’ > Skt. śváśura-, Avs. xvasura-, Arm. skesur, Alb. vjehërr, Lth. šẽšuras, OCS svekry (Pok.:1043-1044). Palatalization was sometimes introduced analogically before*r in Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic, e.g.: *gerH₂- ~ *grH₂- ‘grow’ > Skt. járate, Avs. azarəšant-, Arm. cer, Alb. grurë, Lth. žìrnis, OCS zьrěti, Grk. ἐγείρω (Pok.:390-391).

There are many examples that back up the claim that palatalization was blocked before *o Balto-Slavic and Albanian, e.g.: *bherghos ‘mountain’ > Arm. berj, OCS brěgъ, Gothic baurgs, c.f. *bhergh- ~ *bhrgh- ‘high’ > Skt. barháyati, Avs. bərəzant- (Pok.:140-141); *kei- ~ *kei- ‘lie down’ > Skt. śáyē, Avs. saēte, Arm. sēr, Lth. šeimýna, káimas, OCS sěmьja, Grk. κεῖται (Pok.:539-540); *kerH₂- ~ *korH₂- ~ *krH₂- ‘horn’ > Skt. śíras-, Avs. sarah-, Arm. sar, Alb. ka, Lth. šìršė, kárvė, OCS sъrъšenь, Russian koróva, Grk. κάρ (Pok.:674-577). The unpalatalized velar sometimes spread analogically, e.g.: *legh- ~ *logh- ‘lie down’ > Alb. lagje, Lth. pa-lėgỹs, Bulgarian ležǫ, Grk. λέχετα, c.f. *loghos ‘encampment’ > Alb. lag, Blg. log, Grk λόχος (Pok.:658-659).

Similarly, there are many examples that back up the claim that palatalization was blocked before *o in Indo-Iranian, e.g.: *-ghe ~ *-gho ~ *-ghi (enclitic particle) > Skt. ha, gha, hí, Avs. zī, Lth. -gu, OCS -go, Grk. -χί (Pok.:418); *H₃moigho- ‘mist’ > Skt. meghá, Avs. maēγa-, Lth. miẽgas, Russ. migátʹ, c.f. *H₃meigh- ‘urinate’ > Skt. mḗhati, Avs. maēzaiti, Arm. mizem, Grk. ὀμείχειν, Lth. mę̃žù, Serbo-Croat mìžâm (Pok.:712-713); *ker- ~ *kor- ‘dark’ > Skt. karaṭa-, Arm. saṙn, Alb. thjer-më, Lth. šer̃kšnas, OCS srěnъ, Grk. κόρυζα; (Pok.:573-574); *leukos ‘bright’ > Skt. lōká-, Arm. lois, Lth. laũkas, Grk. λευκός, c.f. *luk- ‘shine’ > Skt. rúśant, Arm. lusanunkʿ, OCS vъs-lysъ, Old High German luhs (Pok.:687-690). Thus, there is evidence that palatalization was blocked before *o in all the satem languages except Armenian.

It is well known that palatalization was blocked before *s in Indic, e.g.: *H₂nekseti ‘reach’ > Skt. nákṣati, c.f. *H₂nek- ‘reach’ > Skt. náśati, Avs. -nasaiti, Lth. nešù, OCS nesǫ, Grk. δι-ηνεκής (Pok.:316-318). This rule also operated in reflexes of ‘thorn clusters’, e.g.: *dhghem- ‘earth’ > Skt. kṣam-, Avs. zā̊, Alb. dhe, Lth. žẽmė, OCS zemlja, Grk. χθών (Pok.:414-416). Note that *-ks- yields *-š- in Iranian, e.g.: *deks- ‘take’ > Skt. dákṣiṇa-, Avs. dašina-, Alb. djathtë, Lth. dẽšinas, OCS desnъ, Grk. δεξιτερός (Pok.:189-191); *H₂eks ‘axe’ > Skt. ákṣ̌aḥ, Lth. ašìs, OCS osъ Grk. ἅξων (Pok.:4-6); *tetk- ‘make’ > Skt. takṣati, Avs. tašaiti, Ltv. tešu, OCS tesati, Grk. τέκτων. The blocking in Indic did not operate word-finally, e.g.: *sueks ‘six’ > Skt. ṣáṭ, Avs. xšvaš, Arm. vec̣, Alb. gjashtë, Lth. šešì, OCS šestь, Grk. ἕξ (Pok.:1044).

Blocking of palatalization before resonants and *u plus a back vowel in Balto-Slavic and Albanian was discussed by Kortlandt (1978, 2008) and is well attested, e.g.: *ghelH- ~ *gholH- ~ *ghloH- ‘shine’ > Skt. hári-, Avs. zari-, Alb. dhelpërë, Lth. želiù, glodùs, OCS zelenъ, gladъkъ, Grk. χόλος (Pok.:429-434); *H₂egnos ‘agile’ > Lth. agnùs (Otkupščikov 1967), c.f. *H₂eg- > Skt. ájati, Avs. azaiti, Arm. acem Grk. ἄγω (Pok.:4-6); *H₂ekmen ~ *H₂ekmon ‘stone’ > Skt. aśman-, Avs. asman-, Lth. ãšmens, akmuõ, OCS kamy, Grk. ἄκμων (Pok.:18-22); *kleu- ~ *klou- ~ *klu- ‘hear’ > Skt. śrudhí, Avs. surunaoiti, Alb. quaj, Lth. šlovė̃, klausaũ, OCS slovo, Grk. κλέω (Pok.:605-607, Orrel 1998); *kuon- ~ *kun- ‘dog’ > Skt. śvā́, Avs. spā, Arm. šun, Lth. šuõ (gen. šuñs), Sudovian kuo, Grk. κύων (Pok.:632-633, Zinkevičius 1985).

Finally, note that there are several examples that back up the claim that palatalization was blocked before *st in Baltic, e.g.: *H₂eksti- ‘sharp’ > Lth. akstìs, OCS ostъnъ, Welsh eithin, c.f. *H₂ek- ‘sharp’, above; *H₂emghst- ‘tight’ > Lth. añkštas, c.f. *H₂emgh- ‘narrow’, above.