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Pre-Germanic /p/ for Indo-European /kw/

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2026

William H. Bennett
William H. Bennett*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

For no apparent reason, Germanic may reflect a pre-Germanic /p/ where a reflex of IE /kw/ might be expected. The appearance of the /p/-reflexes is sporadic, inconsistent, and wholly unpredictable. All attempts to explain them in terms of phonologically definable processes are flatly contradicted by the reflexes themselves. It is suggested that the problem raised by their apparently capricious behavior is not a matter of phonology per se. Rather, they are due partly to borrowing (which is by nature sporadic, inconsistent, and unpredictable), and partly to contamination.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 45 , Issue 2-Part1 , June 1969, pp. 243 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © 1969 Linguistic Society of America

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