Sound changes & Proto-Indo-European

Question 1

There are four accent paradigms (APs) in Lithuanian nouns and adjectives. What intonation do AP 1 and AP 3 have in the root?

Answer 1

/ á = acute/fall intonation (written on the first sound in a diphthong)

Question 2

There are four accent paradigms (APs) in Lithuanian nouns and adjectives. What intonation do AP 2 and AP 4 have in the root, and why?

Answer 2

Circumflex intonation, due to Saussure’s law.

~ ã = circumflex/rising tone (written on the second sound in a diphthong)

Question 3

What is the vowel lengthening of e and a?

Answer 3

● Stressed *e and *a were lengthened in non-final open syllables (only in Aukštaitian, not in Žemaitian).
● In closed syllables, *a and *e remained short.
● After the lengthening, new short stressed *e and *a in open syllables could arise as a result of later accent shifts.

Question 4

What are the main sources of acute intonation?

Answer 4

Acute accent (á):
1. vowel + PIE laryngeal,
2. vowel + PIE voiced (glottalized) stop (*b, *ǵ, *g(w))

Question 5

What are the main sources of circumflex intonation?

Answer 5

Circumflex accent (ã):
1. PIE long vowels,
2. Lithuanian (Aukštaitian) vowel lengthening of e and a.

Question 6

What does Saussure’s law state?

Answer 6

The stress was shifted rightward from a non-acute vowel or diphthong to an originally acute vowel or diphthong in the following syllable.

Question 7

What does Leskien’s law state?

Answer 7

acute long vowels and diphthongs in the final syllable were shortened.

e.g., nom.sg. “rankà” (‘hand’) from *rankā́.

Question 8

What are the phonetic changes from PIE palatovelars to Lithuanian?

Answer 8

*ḱ > š,
*ǵ > ž,
*ǵh > ž

Question 9

How did labiovelars change from PIE to Lithuanian?

Answer 9

*kw, *gw, *gwh > k, g

Question 10

What does Winter’s law state?

Answer 10

“tentative rule: In Baltic and Slavic languages, the Proto-Indo-European sequence of short vowel plus voiced stop was reflected by lengthened vowel plus voiced stop, while short vowel plus aspirate developed into short vowel plus voiced stop.”

Question 11

What are the two main adaptations of Winter’s law?

Answer 11

1.The affected short vowel becomes acute and long.
2.The rule also applies to sequences of the type *-VRD- > *-V́RD-, where we cannot see length, but we can see acute intonation.

e.g. pė́das ‘footstep’ < *ped-

vė́daras ‘belly’ < *ued-r-

→ Before an aspirated stop there is no lengthening, but a short vowel or circumflex diphthong.
Winter’s law also applied when there was a resonant or semivowel (r, l, n, m, i, u) between the vowel and the stop.

Question 12

What is the RUKI-rule in Lithuanian?

Answer 12

Generally PIE *s= Lith. s, but after *r, *u, *velar and *i often *s > š, like in other satəm-languages:

e.g. ver̃šis ‘calf’ < *uers-, cf. Greek érsēn

There are many exceptions. The RUKI-rule did not apply after -i- or -u- under unclear circumstances:

ausìs ‘ear’ (cf. Goth. auso),

mùsė ‘fly’ (cf. Latin musca)

In suffixes and endings we always find *s:
● In the i- and u-stems, e.g. nom.sg. (sūnùs, akìs), gen.sg. (sūnaũs, akiẽs).
● In the superlative (geriáusias).
● In pronouns (jū̃s‘you (pl.)’, gen. jū̃sų, after mẽs ‘we’?).
● In the feminine form of the past active participle (vẽdusi ‘married’, after masc. vẽdęs?)

Question 13

How did Leskien’s law change each vowel?

Answer 13

Acute vowels are shortened in final syllables (Leskien’s law) in the following way:

o > a

y > i

iė > iė > ė

ū > u

uo > u

Acute nasal vowels lose their nasality as a result of Leskien’s law.

Question 14

Despite being a satem language, what caused Lithuanian depalatization in places?

Answer 14

In some positions, a palatovelar produced a velar (like *k etc.) instead of a sibilant:
–before r (k of PIE date)
–before *l, *u̯ followed by a back vowel (Balto-Slavic) e.g. smãkras ‘chin’ < *smoḱ-r-,
–sporadically before *n, *m (Balto-Slavic)

Question 15

PIE to Lithuanian Vowels

Answer 15

PIE *ė, *h1ė > ė

PIE *o, h2ė,h3ė > a

PIE ē,ėh1 > ė

PIE *ėh2 > o

PIE *ō, *oH, *ėh3 > *o > uo

PIE *i > i

PIE *u > u

PIE iH,Hi > y

PIE uH,Hu > ū

Question 16

PIE to Lithuanian Diphthongs

Answer 16

PIE stressed *ė̆i, *ŏi, *Hėi, *ėHi, *Hoi, *oHi > *ė > iė

PIE unstressed ė̆i,h1ėi, *ėh1i > ėi

PIE unstressed ŏi,h2/3ėi, *ėh2/3i, , *Hoi, *oHi> aiPIE ė̆u,h1ėu, *ėh1u > iau

PIE *ŏu, *Hou, *oHu, *h2/3ėu, *ėh2/3u > au

(ė̆, ŏ stand for short or long ė, o)

Question 17

PIE vocalic resonants

Answer 17

PIE *r̥, *l̥, *n̥, *m̥ > ir, il, in(į), im(į)
PIE *r̥, *l̥, *n̥, *m̥ > ur, ul, un(ų), um(ų) in the vicinity of labiovelars
PIE *r̥H, *l̥H, *n̥H, m̥H develop in the same way (r̥H> ir/ur etc.

Question 18

PIE to Lithuanian Consonants

Answer 18

PIE *p = p

PIE *t = t

PIE *b, *bh > b

PIE *d, *dh > d

PIE *kw, *k > k

PIE *gw, *g > g

PIE *gwh, *gh > g

PIE *i̯ = jPIE *u̯ ≥ v

PIE *ḱ > š, sometimes kPIE *ǵ > ž, sometimes g

PIE *ǵh > ž , sometimes g

PIE *s = s, sometimes > š

PIE *r = r

PIE *l = l

PIE *m = m

PIE *n = nor lengthens (nasal) vowel