Cowgill's Law

[Larry Trask]

The moderator writes:

> [ Moderator's comment:

>   But the stem in question has a labiovelar, not a palatal+labial
>   cluster.  And
>   Cowgill's Law explains the development of *o > u quite nicely.
>   --rma ]

Sorry; I don't know Cowgill's Law.  Could you explain it briefly?


Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk

[ Moderator's reply:
  In brief, Cowgill's Law states that in the environment next to a labiovelar,
  PIE *o > Greek u (> y).  I see that it does not appear in Collinge, though I
  have seen reference to it relatively recently, most probably in Sihler; it
  appears as an hypothesis mentioned in my class notes from 1975-77.
  --rma ]