Vocalic /r/ and /l/ in Mycenean Greek

[Yoel L. Arbeitman]

[ moderator re-formatted ]

At 04:13 PM 3/16/99 GMT, you wrote:

TWO COMMENTS BELOW, ONE LIGHT AND ONE SERIOUS.

>For those who think that vocalic /r/ and /l/ persisted from IE into Mycenean
>Greek (as some Greek dialects present IE vocalic /r/ as {ar}, {ra} and others
>present it as {or}, {ro}, e.f. {stratos} / {strotos} = "army": there is
>evidence from Homer. In Homer several times a line ends in the standard
>formula
>{li/pous' andro/te:ta kai /he:be:n} = "[when he was slain, his soul fled]
>leaving manhood and youth": the / / mark the ends of the metrical feet. The
>foot /pous' andro/

A LITTLE FUN, PLEASE. IN SAYING "THE FOOT /POUS' ANDRO/", YOU MADE AN
INVOLUNTARY PUN. YES, WHILE -POUS' HERE IS THE SECOND SYLLABLE OF LIPOUS(A)
"LEAVING", I READ IT FIRST AS THE NOM. OF GREEK POUS "FOOT" AND UNDERSTOOD
YOU TO BE SAYING "FOOT /(greek POUS/!!!!

>is not valid for dactylic meter. As with many metrical faults in Homer, this
>fault may have been caused by a language change after the text was composed:
>if {androte:ta} was pronounced {a-nr-ta:-ta} with a vocalic /r/ (from the root
>{H2-n-r} = "man") when this formula was invented, it scans correctly.

WE HAVE IN OUR HOMERIC TEXT THE UNCONTRACTED FORMS, E.G. ANEROS "OF THE
MAN" AND THE CONTRACTED FORMS ANDROS, WHERE- ONCE CONTRACTION OF THE E HAS
BROUGH THE N AND THE R INTO IMMEDIATE PROXIMITY-, THE HOMORGANIC STOP TO
THE DENTAL NASAL, VIZ. -D- IS EPENTHESIZED, WITH THE RESULT ANDRO-. WE HAVE
NO STAGE OF GREEK ATTESTED EVER WHERE NASAL AND R MEET WITHOUT THE
EPENTHESIS OF HOMORGANIC STOP. E.G. *MROTOS "MORTAL" > *MBROTOS > ATTESTED
BROTOS.

SO, WHILE WHAT YOU PROPOSE MAKES GOOD SPECULATION AND ACCORDS WITH THE THE
RESTITUTION OF E.G. DIGAMMA IN HOMER, WE HAVE EVIDENCE FOR DIGAMMA IN OTHER
GK., BOTH DIALECTALLY AND IN LINEAR B. FOR YOUR PROPOSAL, THERE SIMPLY IS
NO EVIDENCE UNLESS WE SAY THAT THE HOMERIC METER IS THE EVIDENCE.
	YLA