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§ 93
THE ARYAN CONSONANTS
131

‘snow’.—Ar. √dheɡh- > Lat. foveo, Gk. τέφρα: Ml. Ir. daig ‘fire’, W. deifio ‘to singe’.

iv. Unlike ku̯, which is treated as q in Kelt., Ar. gu̯ (g̑u̯, ɡu̯) does not fall together with ɡ. The change q > p is Gaul.-Brit. but not Goidelic, while the change ɡ > b is Pankeltic, and therefore much earlier. The double consonant gu̯ remained, and gives medially W. w, Ir. g, as in W. tew ‘thick’ < *tegu̯os, Ir. tiug: E. thick § 76 viii.—Ar. ghu̯ develops like gh, giving initially W. gw̯‑, Ir. g‑; thus Ar. *g̑hu̯el‑t- > W. gw̯yllt, Ir. geilt ‘wild’: Goth. wilþeis, E. wild, parallel to Ar. [W 1]g̑hu̯er- > Lat. ferus, Gk. θήρ.

v. When the guttural follows a nasal we have the following results:

> W. m (for mm), Ir. mb; as Ar. *n̥ɡen- > Ir. imb, W. ymen-yn ‘butter’: Lat. unguen.

h > W. ng (≡ ŋŋ), Ir. ng; as W. llyngyr ‘lumbrici’: Lat. lumbrīcus.—W. angerdd ‘heat’ < *n̥-ɡher‑d‑; angar ‘heat’ < *n̥-ɡhₑr‑, √ɡher‑, see iii; ager ‘steam’ § 99 vi (1).

nɡhu̯ > W. w, Ir. ng; as W. ewin ‘nail’, Ir. ingen < *n̥ɡhu̯‑, √onoqh/gh‑: Skr. nakhá‑ḥ ‘nail’, Gk. ὄνυξ, Lat. unguis.

ng̑hu̯ > W. f, Ir. ng; as W. tafod ‘tongue’, Ir. tenge: O. Lat. dingua (Lat. lingua), E. tongue < Ar. *dn̥g̑hu̯ā.—W. llyfu ‘to lick’ < *ling̑h‑u̯‑: Ir. līgim, Gk. λείχω, λιχνεύω Lat. lingo, √leig̑h‑.

The first two groups contain two consonants each; ɡ > b, and consequently the nasal became m; but ɡh remained a guttural so that the nasal became ŋ, and the group became ŋŋ, which was unrounded in W. as in Ir. The other groups contain three consonants; in Ir. the dropped as usual, leaving ŋŋ; but in W. the remained, ŋŋ > ŋ before a consonant, and ŋ dropped, § 106 ii (1).

§ 93. i. In Ar., when two explosives came together, a tenuis before a media became a media, and a media before a tenuis became a tenuis; thus p + d > bd, and b + t > pt. Only the second could be aspirated, and the aspiration, if any, of the first was transferred to it; thus bh + d > bdh. In this case if the second was a tenuis it became an aspirated media, thus bh + t > bdh; this however only survives in Indo-Iran.; elsewhere we have two tenues; thus Gk. has κτ from gh + t, as in εὐκτός: εὔχομαι, Meillet, Intr.² 106. So in Italic and

k 2

  1. On p. xxvii the author adds “*” here.