Indo-European s-mobile

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In Indo-European studies, the term s-mobile designates the phenomenon where a PIE root appears to begin with an *s- which is sometimes but not always present. It is therefore represented in the reflex of the root in some attested derivatives but not others. The fact that there is no consistency about which language groups retain the s-mobile in individual cases is good evidence that it is an original Indo-European phenomenon, and not an element added or lost in the later history of any specific language.

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General description

This "movable" prefix *s- appears at the beginning of some Indo-European roots, but is absent from other occurrences of the same root. For example, the stem *(s)táwros 'large domestic animal, cattle', perhaps 'aurochs', gives Latin taurus and Old English steor (Modern English steer), both meaning 'bull'. Both variants existed side by side in PIE, with Germanic preserving the forms as *steuraz and *þeuraz respectively, but Italic, Celtic, Slavic and others all having words for 'bull' which reflect the root without the *s. Compare also: Gothic stiur, German Stier, Avestan staora (cattle); but Old Norse þjórr, Greek tauros, Latin taurus, Old Church Slavonic turъ, Lithuanian tauras, Welsh tarw, Old Irish tarb, Oscan turuf, and Albanian taroç.

In other cases, it is Germanic that preserves only the form without the s mobile. The Proto-Indo-European root *(s)teg-, 'to cover', has descendants English thatch (from Old English þeccan), German decken 'to cover', Latin tegō 'I cover', but Greek stégō and Russian stog.

Sometimes subsequent developments can treat the forms with and without the s-mobile quite differently. For example, by Grimm's law PIE *p becomes Proto-Germanic *f, but the combination *sp is unaffected by this. Thus the root *(s)prek-, perhaps meaning 'to scatter', has two apparently quite dissimilar derivatives in English: sprinkle (from the nasalized form *sprenk-), and freckle (from *prek-).

S-mobile is always followed by another consonant. Typical combinations are with voiceless stops: *(s)p-, *(s)t-, *(s)k-; with liquids and nasals: *(s)l-, *(s)m-, *(s)n-; and rarely, *(s)w-.

Origins

One theory of the origin of the s-mobile is that it was influenced by a suffix to the preceding word; many inflectional suffixes in PIE are reconstructed as having ended in *s, including the nominative singular and accusative plural of many nouns. The s-mobile can therefore be seen as an interference between the words, a kind of sandhi or rebracketing development. So for example, while an alternation between *péḱyont and *spéḱyont (both meaning 'they saw') might be difficult to imagine, an alternation between *wĺ̥kʷoms péḱyont and *wĺ̥kʷoms spéḱyont ('they saw the wolves' [1] ) is plausible. The two variants would still be pronounced differently, as the double -ss- is distinct from a single -s- (compare English this pot and this spot), but the alternation can now be understood as a simple process of gemination (doubling) or degemination.

This can be understood in two ways.

Further examples

Root [2] [3] MeaningReflexes with s-Reflexes without s-
sk*(s)kand-to shine, glowSanskrit -ścandráSanskrit candrá, Ancient Greek kándaros, Latin candeō, Old Armenian xand
*(s)kap-toolAncient Greek skeparnionLatin capus
*(s)kel-crookedGerman schielen 'squint', Greek skṓlēx 'worm'Greek kō̃lon 'limb'
*(s)kep-cut, scrapeEnglish scab Late Latin capulare 'cut'
*(s)ker-cutEnglish shear, share, Polish skóra 'leather'Latin curtus 'short', Polish kora 'cortex'
*(s)ker-bentEnglish shrink, Avestan skarəna 'round'Latin curvus 'curved', Russian kriv’ 'crooked', Lithuanian kreĩvas 'crooked'
*(s)kleu-close (verb)German schließenLatin claudere
*(s)kʷal-o-big fishLatin squalusEnglish whale
sl*(s)leug-to swallowGerman schluckenOld Irish loingid 'eats', Ancient Greek lúzein 'hiccup', Polish łykać, połknąć 'swallow'
sm*(s)melo-small animalEnglish smallIrish míol 'animal', Russian mályj 'small', Dutch maal 'calf (animal)',
*(s)meld-meltEnglish smelt, Dutch smeltenEnglish melt, Ancient Greek méldein
sn*(s)neh₂-swim Vedic Sanskrit snā́ti, Old Irish snáïd Tocharian B nāskeṃ 'wash themselves'
*(s)nēg-o-snakeEnglish snake Sanskrit nāga 'snake'
sp*(s)peik-woodpecker, magpieGerman Specht 'woodpecker'Latin pica 'magpie'
*(s)per-sparrowEnglish sparrow, Ancient Greek psár 'starling', Polish szpak 'starling'Latin parra
*(s)plei-splitEnglish split, splinterEnglish flint
*(s)poi-foamLatin spumaEnglish foam, Polish piana 'foam'
st*(s)teh₂-standLatin stare, English standIrish 'be'
*(s)twer-whirlEnglish stormLatin turba 'commotion'
*(s)ton-thunderGreek steneinEnglish thunder, Latin tonare
sw*(s)wagʰ-resoundEnglish soughAncient Greek ēkhḗ 'sound'
*(s)wendʰ-dwindle, witherGerman schwinden 'dwindle'Russian vjánut′, uvjadát′ 'wither', Polish więdnąć 'wither'

A number of roots beginning in *sl-, *sm-, *sn- look as if they had an s-mobile but the evidence is inconclusive, since several languages (Latin, Greek, Albanian) lost initial s- before sonorants (l, m, n) by regular sound change. Examples include:

Root [2] MeaningReflexes with s-Reflexes without s-
sl*(s)leg-slack (weak, loose)English slack, Old Norse slakrOld Irish lacc, Ancient Greek lagarós
*(s)lei-slimyEnglish slime, Irish sleamhuin ‘smooth’, Lithuanian sliẽnas, Polish ślimak ‘snail’Latin limus ‘muck’, Ancient Greek leímax ‘snail’
sm*(s)mek-chinHittite zama(n)gur, Irish smig, Old English smǣras ‘lips’, Lithuanian smãkras, smakrà, Sanskrit śmaśruLatin māxilla, Albanian mjekër, Armenian mawrukʿ
sn*(s)neigʷh-snowEnglish snow, Latvian snìegs, Russian sneg, Avestan snaēža-, Sanskrit snéhaLatin nix, Ancient Greek nípha, Welsh nyf
*(s)nus-daughter-in-lawGerman Schnur, [4] Icelandic snör, Czech snacha, Persian suna, Sanskrit snuṣā́Latin nurus, Ancient Greek nyós, Armenian nu

Notes

  1. Example from Andrew L. Sihler, New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, OUP 1995, p.169.
  2. 1 2 Watkins, Calvert (2000). The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN   0-618-08250-6.
  3. Rix, Helmut; Kümmel, Martin; et al. (2001). Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (in German) (2 ed.). Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. ISBN   3-89500-219-4. OCLC   47295102.
  4. Pfeifer, Wolfgang (1993). "'Schnur' in: Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen" . Retrieved 2022-03-31.

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