Groucho Marxism

The Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (IEW) was published in 1959 by the Czech linguist Julius Pokorny and provides an overview of the lexical knowledge of Proto-Indo-European accumulated in the early 20th century. The IEW is now generally considered outdated, but it remains the only comprehensive Indo-European dictionary and as such it is still a useful resource. In this blog post I will list entries from the IEW with velars in different phonological environments. I have only included entries with reflexes in at least two separate branches in both the centum and satem languages; where there is no uncertainty in the reconstruction; and where the velar only occurs in one phonological environment. I have updated reconstructions where necessary and excluded onomatopoeic cases.

There no entries with a palatovelar before *e(i)T, where T is any stop, but there are three entries with a plain velar in this position: *gʰed- ‘defecate’, *geibʰ- ‘bend’, and *gʰeidʰ- ‘desire’. Similarly, there are no entries with a palatovelar before *o, but there are three entries with a plain velar in this position: *kH₂eiko- ‘one-eyed’, *koros ‘war’, and *spiko- ‘woodpecker’. Furthermore, there are no entries with a palatovelar before *r, but there are nine entries with a plain velar in this position: *grem- ‘damp’, *gʰredʰ- ‘stride’, *gʰrendʰ- ‘beam’, *gʰreH₁u- ‘collapse’, *kreH₂u- ‘put’, *krep- ‘body’, *kreuH₂- ‘blood’, *kreuH- ‘thrust’, and *kreup- ‘scab’. This suggests that palatalization was blocked before *e(i)T, *o, and *r.

There no entries with a labiovelar before *H, but there are seven entries with a plain velar in this position: *kH₂eiko- ‘one-eyed’, *kH₂eilo- ‘whole’, *kH₂emp- ‘bend’, *kH₂eput ‘head’, *kH₂er- ‘revile’, *kH₂er- ‘hard’, and *kH₂ers- ‘scratch’. Similarly, there no entries with labiovelars before *l or *n, but there are three entries with plain velars in these positions: *kleng- ‘bend’, *kleno- ‘maple’, and *knH₂ko- ‘golden’. There is one entry with a plain velar before *em, *gem- ‘grasp’, where the Baltic reflexes point to a zero grade *gᵘm-. There is one entry with a labiovelar before *u, *perkᵘus ‘oak’, with clear evidence of delabialization; and three entries with a plain velar in this position: *H₂erku-‘bent’, *gues- ‘twig’, and *kuH₂et- ‘ferment’. This suggests that labiovelars were delabialized before *H, *l, *m, *n, and *u.

There are six entries with a plain velar before *e, aside from those already discussed. The first, *kelH- ‘drive’, is linked with another entry, *kelH₁- ~ *klH₁- ‘call’, which points to original root *kᵘelH₁- where the labiovelar may have been delabialized in the zero grade *kᵘlH₁-. The second, *kelg- ‘wind’, is sparsely attested and probably did not exist in PIE. The Slavic reflexes of the third, *ken- ‘appear’, point to an *o-grade where palatalization could have been blocked by the following *o, as do the Baltic reflexes of the fourth, *kenk- ‘burn’. The fifth, *kento- ‘rag’, is sparsely attested and probably did not exist in PIE. The final entry is *kerH₃- ‘burn’, where the Baltic reflexes point to an original labiovelar. There are no entries with plain velars before *i. This suggests that plain velars were regularly palatalized before *e and *i.

There are no entries with a palatovelar after non-syllabic *n, but thirteen entries with a plain velar in this position: *dʰengʰ- ‘press’, *dʰengʰ- ‘reach’, *geng- ‘lump’, *g’ʰengʰ- ‘stride’, *H₁enk- ‘sigh’, *H₂enk- ‘bend’, *kenk- ‘burn’, *kleng- ‘bend’, *meng- ‘make’, *slenk- ‘wind’, *tengʰ- ‘pull’, *tenk- ‘pull’, *trenk-  ‘thrust’. There is one entry with a palatovelar after *m: *H₂emg’ʰ- ‘narrow’; two entries with a palatovelar after syllabic *n: *bʰng’ʰus ‘thick’, and *dng’ʰuH₂ ‘tongue’; but no entries with plain velars in these positions. This suggests that palatalization was blocked after non-syllabic *n, but not after *m or syllabic *n.

There no entries with a labiovelar after *H, but there are six entries with a plain velar in this position:  *bʰeH₂g- ‘apportion’, *ieH₂g- ‘venerate’, meH₂gʰ- ‘young’, *meH₂k- ‘skin’, *pleH₂k- ‘hit’, and *ueH₂g- ‘cry’. Similary, there are no entries with a labiovelar after *l, but there are four entries with a plan velar in this position: *melk- ‘wet’, *selk- ‘pull’, *spelg- ‘split’, and *uelk- ‘pull’. Furthermore, there are no entries with a labiovelar after *u, but there are ten entries with a plain velar in this position: *bʰeug- ‘bend’, *dʰeugʰ- ‘touch’, *dʰreugʰ- ‘deceive’, *H₁euk- ‘accustom’, *ieug- ‘move’, *leuk- ‘shine’, *meug-  ‘slip’, *reug- ‘belch’, *sleug- ‘swallow’, and *smeuk- ‘smoke’. This suggests that labiovelars were delabialized after *H, *l, and *u.

There are no entries with a labiovelar after *s, but there are thirteen entries with a plain velar in this position: *mosgo- ‘marrow’, *resg- ‘weave’, *skeH₂i- ‘bright’, *sked- ‘split’, *skei- ‘cut’, *skel- ‘bend’, *skep- ‘cut’, *sker-  ‘jump’, *sker-  ‘cut’, *skerbʰ- ‘turn’, *skeH₁u- ‘cut’, *skeud-  ‘throw’, and *skH₂ebʰ- ‘support’.  Furthermore, there no entries with a labiovelar after mobile *s, but nine entries with a plain velar in this position: *(s)kH₂el- ‘hard’, *(s)kH₂end- ‘shine’, *(s)kel- ‘stab’, *(s)kel- ‘hit’ *(s)kel- ‘call’, *(s)kreH₁p-  ‘leather’, *(s)kert- ‘turn’, *(s)keu- ‘pay’, and *(s)keuHd- ‘shout’. There are also three entries with palatovelars in these positions: *sk’eH₂i- ‘shimmer’, *(s)k’em- ‘hornless’, and *sk’erd- ‘defecate’. This suggests that labiovelars were delabialized after *s and *(s).

There are no entries with a palatovelar in roots beginning with *(s)t, but five with a plain velar in this position, aside from those already discussed: *steigʰ- ‘stride’, *streig- ‘stop’, *(s)treg- ‘strengthen’, *tek- ‘stretch’, and *tek- ‘weave’. Similarly, there are no entries with a labiovelar in roots beginning with *H₂, but three with a plain velar in this position, again aside from those discussed): *H₂eig- ‘move’, *H₂lek- ‘close’, and *H₂rek- ‘protect’. Smilarly, there are no entries with a labiovelar in roots beginning with *(H,s)m, but four with a plain velar in this position aside from those discussed: *H₃meigʰ- ‘flicker’, *mek- ‘bleat’, *merk- ‘rot’, and *smek- ‘chin’. This suggests that palatalization was blocked in roots beginning with *(s)t, and that labiovelars were delabialized in roots beginning with *H₂ and *(H,s)m.

There is one root with plain velars after *e, aside from those already discussed: *rek- ‘arrange’. This root is sparsely attested probably did not exist in PIE. There are four entries with a plain velar after *i, aside from those already discussed. The first, *dʰrigʰ- ‘hair’ is sparsely attested and probably did not exist in PIE. The Greek reflexes of the second, *H₃leig- ‘needy’, point to a formation *H₃loigos, and the Slavic reflexes of the third, *ueik-‘force’, point to a formation *uoikos; in both cases, palatalization could have been blocked by the following *o. The same cannot be said of *leig- ‘hop’, but equally we cannot rule out the possibility of a similar formation existing here too. This suggests that plain velars were regularly. palatalized after *e and *i.

There are three entries with a plain velar after *r, aside from those already discussed. The first, *H₁ergʰ- ‘shake’ is sparsely attested and probably did not exist in PIE; and the Slavic reflexes of the second, *suergʰ- ‘care’ point to a formation *suorgʰos where palatalization could have been blocked by the following *o. This suggests that plain velars were regularly palatalized after*r.