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An Indo-European Prefix *ṇ- ‘Together With‘

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

Werner Winter
Werner Winter*
Affiliation:
University of Hamburg
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Extract

In the Greek vocabulary there are a number of words with a prefix ἀ- which have caused considerable difficulty to students of Greek morphology. The problem is usually dismissed by adopting the merely descriptive term ‘prothetic vowel’, even in comparative and historical statements; but this way of avoiding the issue is far from satisfactory.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 28 , Issue 2-Part1: April-June , June 1952, pp. 186 - 191
Copyright
Copyright © 1952 Linguistic Society of America

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References

1 Lg. 17.83–92, esp. 86.

2 IF 8.173.

3 Griechische Grammatik 1.433.

4 Vorgriechische Sprachwissenschaft 115 (Sofia, 1941).

5 Studien zum ‘prothetischen Vokal’ im Griechischen (Hamburg, 1950).

6 Forma with the prefix ὀ-, some of which one may be inclined to consider Aeolic variants of forms with ἀ-, are also excluded from this paper.

7 E. Sieg und W. Siegling, Tocharische Sprachreste, Sprache B, Heft 1 (Göttingen, 1949).

8 On another occasion I shall account in extenso for the reconstruction of the underlying forms.

9 Words in square brackets are taken from dialect A. The spelling is simplified in the manner of Sieg-Siegling-Schulze's grammar.

10 The normal representation in A is [a-]. There are, however, special developments (similar to those in B) due to the following sounds, which cannot be discussed here.

11 The quality of this vowel is subjected to different influences, such as stress and umlaut; cf. yakwe ‘horse’: Lat. equus, yoktsi ‘drink’: Hitt. ekuzi ‘he drinks’.

12 Hoofdzaken van de tochaarse Klank- en Vormleer 32 (Leuven, 1947).

13 E. Sieg and W. Siegling, Die Speisung des Bodhisatva vor der Erleuchtung, Asia Major 2.279 ff. (1925).

14 V. Georgiev has tried to demonstrate that a satem language exerted considerable influence on the Greek vocabulary. Even though there can be no doubt that he has gone too far in many details, some of his conclusions can hardly be rejected.