Stang's law

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Stang's law is a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) phonological rule named after the Norwegian linguist Christian Stang.

Contents

Overview

The law governs the word-final sequences of a vowel, followed by a semivowel (*y or *w) or a laryngeal (*h₁, *h₂, *h₃), followed by a nasal. According to the law these sequences are simplified such that laryngeals and semivowels are dropped, with compensatory lengthening of a preceding vowel.

This rule is usually cited in more restricted form as: *Vwm > *Vːm and *Vh₂m > *Vːm (*V denoting a vowel and * a long vowel).

Often the rules *Vmm > *Vːm and also *Vyi > *Vːy are added: [1]

See also

References

  1. Benjamin W. Fortson (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction . Blackwell Publishing. pp.  63–64. ISBN   1-4051-0316-7.[ dead link ]