The Greek Prothetic Vowel

143 Pages·1972·1.981 MB·English

by  William F. Wyatt Jr.

GREEK PROTHETIC VOWEL
PHILOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
OFTHE
AMERICAN PHILOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
NUMBER 31
Edited by
JOHN J.
ΚΕΑΝΕΥ
Prίnceton Unίversίty
Legati Hahniani ope
hic liber prodit
Accepted for publication by the Committee οη the Publication of Monographs
of The American Philological Association
GREEK PROTHETIC VOWEL
ΤΗΕ
By
WILLIAM F. WY Α ΤΤ, JR.
Brown
Unίνersίty
Published for
ΤΗΕ AMERICAN PHILOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
By the Press of
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
1972
Ι)
CY
The American Philological Association 1972
@
Lίbrary of Congress Catalogue Number: 73-171069
ISBN 0-8295-0218-1
Printed ίη the United States of America
PREFACE
My work οη the Greek Prothetic V owel represents the latest
- and I hope final - stage ίη a series of works which Ι have
directed against the laryngeal theory of Indo-European phono
logy. That theory holds that certain consonants, lost ίη all Indo
European languages save sometimes Hittite, were responsible,
both for the color of a vowel (a e ο = H1e H2e H3e) and for its
(a e
length ό = eH1 eH2 eH3), and also, between consonants, for
the vowel schwa (a = CHC). As a graduate student I was
convinced by Professor Joshua Whatmough of the correctness of
this theory, and indeed set out, under his direction, to demon
strate the effects of laryngeal consonants οη Homeric scansion. 1
soon realized that laryngeals had nothing to do with Homer
(Metrίcal Lengthenίng ίn Homer, Rome, 1969), and that a purely
Homeric answer to Homeric problems was required: 1 did not,
though, yet doubt the existence of laryngeals Proto-Indo
ίη
European. Later, while preparing a course Indo-European
ίη
phonology at the University of Washington and investigating the
theoretical f oundations of the laryngeal theory, 1 fo und that such
f oundations were fe w and weak ("Structural Linguistics and the
Laryngeal Theory", Language 40[ 1964] 13 8-52). Hence the lar
yngeal theory, ίη my thinking at least, had to be replaced, and
ίη 1970 (Indo-European /a/, Philadelphia), 1 published my
identification of Proto-Indo-European [a] and [a], thus removing
from the Proto-Indo-European phonetic inventory a νocalizable
laryngeal consonant. Difficulties remained, though, for as Pro
fessor Werner Winter had pointed out to me already ίη 1966, [a]
and [a] seemed to contrast initially ίη cases of so-called Greek
prothesis, [a] remaining in Greek and Sanskrit, [a] remaining only
ίη Greek. My first answer to his observation appears οη pages 24-
26 of Indo-European /α/; my final answer appears ίη the pages
208708
PROTHETIC VOWEL
νι
which follow. Whether or not my views of Proto-lndo-European
laryngeals are aρcepted, Ι do hope that my work will have shown
that laryngeals are not a cure-all, and that by positing them where
they do not belong, scholars have frequently frustrated a true, or
at least a better, explanation. Ιη short, 1 hope that something
positive will have resulted.
Ιη my work Ι have been helped by discussions with linguists at
Brown and Ohio State, to the latter of whom Ι owe the
observation - which I here pass οη - that the environments
specified in rule 6) of page 119 do not form any sort of natural
class and hence cannot be literally correct: they are an approxi
mation only, and are more suitable for a computer program than
for a natural language. There does in fact exist a prothesis
creating computer program prepared by Gerald Μ. Rubin,
programmer extraordinary for Brown University's Linguistics
Department, which has been of great help and which has saved
me from numerous errors.
Ι also wish to thank several members of the American
Philological Association: J. Arthur Hanson, former editor of the
Association's Transactions, who, ίη denying me the pages of
ΤΑΡΑ, encouraged me to expand an article into a monograph;
John J. Keaney, current editor of ΤΑΡΑ, for preparing a difficult
manuscήpt for the pήnter; David W. Packard, who provided the
computer program which produced the printed version of this
work; and John J. Bateman, who oversaw the whole.
Providence, 7 August 1970
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
ν
Table of Contents
νιι
Abbreviations .
χιν
Bibliography
XV
1. The Problem
1.0 Introductory 1
1.1 Explanations 3
1.1.1 Prothesis as an inheήted phenomenon 3
1. 1. 2 Prothesis as a Greek innovation 8
1.1.3 R ν[~~] > <>Rν[ ~~] 9
2. Widely accepted Cases of Prothesis
2.1 Prothesis before */ 1/
2.1.1 άλείτης 11
2.1.2 άλείφω 12
2.1.3 άλίνειν 12
2.1.4 έλαφpός 13
2.1.5 έλaχύς 13
2.1.6 έλεύθεpος 15
2.1.7 ολίγος 15
2.1.8 'λ' 'λ 'φ . 17
ο οπτω ο ον ειν
2.1.9 Summary of Prothesis bef ore */ 1/ 18
2.2 Prothesis before */ m/
2.2.0 Introductory 18
2.2.1 άμείβω 19
2.2.2 άμέλyω 19
2.2.3 ' Ι 19
ομειχω
2.2.4 όμίχλrι 19
2.2.5 άμaλός άμaλδύνω 20
2.2.6 ) Ι 23
ομοpyννμι
2.2.7 Summary of prothesis before */m/ 26
Vlll PROTHETIC VOWEL
2.3 Prothesis before */ η/
2.3.0 ·I ntroductory 27
2.3.1 ,, δ 27
ονει ος
'
2.3.2 ψ Ι 28
ανε ιος
2.3.3 Ένερθεν 29
, ,
2.3.4 29
ανηρ
2.3.5 " 31
ονομα
2.3.6 ' , 33
εvvεα
2.3.7 Summary of prothesis before */ η/ 37
2.4 Prothesis bef ore */ w /
2.4.0 Introductory 37
2.4.1 Έεδvα Εόνα 37
2.4.2 " fL1K aTL 38
εικοσι
2.4.3 > Ι " 38
εεργω εργω
2.4.4 έέλδομαι Έλδομαι . 39
,,
2.4.5 <Ι 39
εερση ερση
2.4.6 )./, " 39
ειση ισος
2.4.7 έέλπομαι Έλπομαι 39
2.4.8 έέλσαι ε'ίλομαι 40
2.4.9 εϊλη Έλη 40
2.4.10 είλίσσω 41
2.4.11 ' Ι 41
ερνω
2.4.12 ε'ίδομαι 41
,,
2.4.13 42
οιγvvμι
2.4.14 Summary of prothesis before */ w / 42
2. 5 Summary of accepted cases of prothesis 44
3. Possible additional cases of prothesis
3.0 Introductory 45
3.1 Before */1/
3.1.1 αλεισον 45
3. 1.2 άλέξω 45
3.1.3 άλίγκιος 45
3.1.4 άλινδέω 46
3.1.5 έλαύνω 46
3.1.6 έλαία . 46
3.1.7 έλέγχω 46
CONTENTS
ιχ
3.1.8 'Ελευσίς 'Ελενθεραί 46
3.1.9 έλεύσομαι 47
3.1.10 έλινύω όλινύω 47
3.1.11 όλιβρόν όλισθάνω 47
3.2 Before */ m/
3.2.1 'Αμάλθεια 48
3.2.2 C Ι 48
αμαρτανω
3.2.3 > 1 Ι 48
αμανpος μανpος
3.2.4 > Ι 48
αμεινων
3.2.5 > Ι 48
αμειρω
3.2.6 άμέλδω 49
3.2.7 > Ι 49
αμερyω
3.2.8 άμέρδω μερθείσα 49
3.2.9 άμεύομαι 49
3.3 Before */ η/
3.3.1 άνάyκrι 49
,,
3.3.2 49
ανεν
3.3.3 50
3.3.4 > Ι 50
ενιπrι
3.3.5 > ~ 50
ενεικαι
,,
3.3.6 50
ονειpος
3.4 Before */w/
3.4.1 'άεθλος 51
,
3.4.2 'δ . 51
αει ω
3.4.3 > , . 53
αειρω
3.4.4 'άελλα άετ μόν 'άετ μα 53
,,
3.4.5 53
αεμμα
3.4.6 ''t 53
αει;,ω
,,
3.4.7 54
αεπτος
3.4.8 'άρδω 54
3.4.9 ά·ίσθω 54
'
3.4.10 )., 55
οιστος
3.4.11 'Οϊλεύς Ο'ίτνλον 55
3.5 Sumn1ary of possible cases of prothesis 56
4. Apparent exceptions to the rule for prothesis
4.0 Introductory 57
PROTHETIC VOWEL
χ
4.1 Before */ 1/
4.1.1 .άλαπάζω λαπάσσω 57
4.1.2 αλασ'ΤΟ<;: 57
4.1.3 άλώπ-ηξ 57
4.1.4 ελελίζω 58
4.2 Before */ m/ . 59
4.2.1 άμαpύσσω 59
, ,
4.2.2 59
αμαω.
4.2.3 ' ' 60
αμνσσω
4.2.4 έμέ με 60
4. 3 Befo re *
/η/
4. 3 .1 όνίν-ημι 60
4.3.2 ονομαι 60
4.4 Befo re */ w /
4.4.1 άέλιοι a'ίλιοι είλίονες: 60
4.4.2 " 60
αεσα
4.4.3 ,ι 61
α-ημι
4.4.4 :) ~'· 62
αιω
,.,.
4.4.5 62
οιω
4.5 Summary of apparent exceptions 63
5. Cases in which prothesis, though predicted,
fails to develop
5.0 Introductory . 65
5.1 Words to be excluded from consideration
5.1.1 Words lacking an etymology 65
5.1.2 Words with ΙΕ */sR/- 66
5.1.3 Borrowed words 66
5.1.4 Words created too late 66
5.1.5 Prothesis absent by analogy 67
5.2 Troublesome residue
5.2.1 Before */ l/ 67
5.2.2 Before */ m/ 69
5.2.3 Before */ η/ 71
5.3 Before */ w/
5.3.0 Introductory 71
5.3.1 "i:θpις: 'ίθpις: aθpις: οθpις: 71