Beekes - Etymological Dictionary of Greek

xxviii
PRE-GREEK LOANWORDS IN GREEK
PRE-GREEK LOANWORDS IN GREEK
xxix
Y / 0: YUAaTllov / aoaATollov
n / T: panalV£l / paTalV£l
p / 0: aUIlPaAov / aUvOaAov
cp / 8: yvucpal / yvu80e;
y / P / 0: yEcpupa / pEcpupa / O€cpupa.
It is tempting to assume labiovelars to explain these cases, but some cases may have a
different origin (thus, ppuKaAov / ponaAov could be due to dissimilation in the first
variant). On the existence of labiovelars in Pre-Greek, see above on the phonemic
system.
5.7. Dentals / liquids
There are some instances of variation between dentals (including n) and liquids (1,
r). This variation is incidental. Examples (Fur. 387f.):
a. 0 / A: apAapOe; / poapol (Fur. 33027), McpVT] / AUCPVT], 'Oouaa£ue; / 'OAuaa£Ue;. Cf.
Myc. gen. da-pu2-ri-to-jo /daphurinthoio/ / AapuplV80e;, KaAuIllv8a / Myc. ka-da-mita.
The interchange 0 / A and the fact that Linear B has signs for da, de, di, etc.
(which Lejeune explained by assuming a specific, unusual sound d) might point to a
dental fricative le.
8 / A: 8uma / AaHa
v / A: VLTpOV / ALTpOV
h. 0 / p: alpoa / IIlPPaL
v / p: PAXVOV / PAXPOV
c. A / p: aT]ple; / aT]Ale;, Kplpavoe; / KAlpavoe;, Kpwlla / KAwlla.
5.8. Simple / geminate
Except for a few isolated cases, we find this interchange in v / vv, but more notably
in A / AA. On T / H and a / aa see above sub 5.5. Cf. Fur. 386£. Examples:
v / vv: aVT]80v (also T) / avvT]80v (also T); TT]Il£vle; / Tp£vva. In this context, note the
suffIx -uvV-.
A / AA: paA(A)v; 8UALe; / 8uAAle;; anEA£80e; / anEAAT]l dat.pl.; llaKEAT] / lluK£AAa (this
probably derives from PG *-al.Ya-). Note yda(a)ov, auplaa / auplaaa, and the case of
A8vT] / AT81e; / ATTlKOe;.
5.9. (J- / zero
We discussed a / zero before consonant under s-mobile above, section B4.
An -s- from Pre-Greek is normally maintained. The only instances that I know of,
where it may have disappeared, are (cf. Fur. 241): auplXOe;, aUplaaoe; / UplXOe; (also
-laKoe;, -laxoe;, -laaoe;); aupuAAae; / UpUAAT]e;; aayvT] / Cypr. ayuvcl; amuT] / inua.
Perhaps 'EAAue; beside L:£AAol belongs here, too. Another instance could be amov,
which is cognate with Lat. pirum which points to -pis-.
5.10. K-, T- / zero
There are instances where a velar or a dental may be absent in initial position (Fur.
391, and 13159). Dentals may also be absent in inlaut. Examples:
K / zero: KuvoapOe; / av8pa, KaAlvO€ollaL / aAivow, KOYXVaL / 0YXVaL, Kav8AloV /
av8AloV.
y / zero: ylvvoe; / ivvoe;, but this form may be a late development. As an explanation,
one could think of a uvular q.
T / zero: Tuyxoupoe; / ayxoupoe;, Tyavov / yavov, Tlcpuov / '(cpuov (with l in LSJ);
o / zero: OeA£OWVT] / £A£OWVT] (also t-).
Loss of a dental in inlaut: vETwnov / vlwnov, i80uAie; / '(ouAle;, aaloapoe; / aalapoe;.
5.11. V-, A- / zero
v- and A- can also be absent (Fur. 391f): vucp8a / acp8a (also a-). AaL\/IT]pOe; / ai\/lT]poe;,
AallnvT] / anvT], AaTIl£v£la / aTIlv, Perhaps, it concerns palatalized nY, lY, which
are pronounced very 'light'.
5.12. Metathesis, shift of aspiration
There are instances of metathesis. It mostly concerns p, sometimes A. The consonant
jumps to the other side of the vowel or the consonant: KlpaOe; / KplaaOe;, KplOe;;
TEPlllv80e; / TpElll80e;. Cf. T£PIlIAaL / Tp£IlIAaL; apm / anpl; KEopona / KEpoona;
vu8pa / vup8T]. In most cases, it cannot be determined what the original configuration
was. In a case like i::ppwe; / £upwe;, where p may stand for ( or continue) F, I
would think that the F was anticipated. It may concern an original rW.
The cases of an / \/I and aK / are discussed in 5.5 above.
Shift of aspiration is found in some cases: 8plyKoe; / Tplyxoe;, a8payEvT] /
avopuxvT]. In the case of cpuwT] / nu8vT] the metathesis seems to have occurred in the
later history of Greek (Beekes 2003).
5.13 Secondary phonetic developments
1. We may assume secondary phonetic developments, either in Greek or perhaps
already in the original language. One might consider:
po- > PA-: poapol / apAapOl. For this case, cf. 5.7b 0 / A.
po > pp: PO€AAlOV / PpEAALOV (Fur. 308)
yo- > 0-: yoounoe; / oounoe;
ov- > yv-: ovocpoe; / yvocpoe;
KIl- > 11-: KIlEA£8pov / IlEAa8pOV
\/1- > an-: \/I£VOUA- / anovOUAT]? See 5.5.6 above.
\/1- > a-: \/IEcpae; / adcpa; \/IIHaKoe; / aIHaKoe;; cf. '¥ancpw, L:ancpw.
2. a > 0 before u in the following syllable. The a was probably pronounced a little
higher before the u, and was realized as [a], which resulted in o. Examples: aouYYla
> 6UyylOV, KaAupT] > KOAUPOe;, *aKapap- (KupaPOe;) > aKopopuAOe;, OOPUKVlOV for
*o( a)puKv-.
5.14 Other variation
There are a few instances of isolated and puzzling variation. I mention just one, the
word for 'night', where we have \/IEcpae;, KVEcpae;, ovocpoe;, ocpoe;. I think that in some
of these cases, the solution may be found in a cluster. Carian, for example, allows an
initial cluster kbd-. Such clusters would have been simplified in Greek. In an
inherited word, we have the parallel of Lat. pecten, Gr. KT£Ie;, which is supposed to