Proto-Basque's consonant system had a tense/lax contrast rather than a voiceless/voiced one, so dental stops were *t: (tense) and *t (lax).
Initial *t- was apparently absent from Late PBsq., as d- is exceedingly rare in modern Basque outside of recent borrowings and verbal forms. Although Trask noticed this anomaly in Mitxelena's system, he didn't offer any explanation1.
The key is found in borrowings like lanjer (< French danger) or lizifrina (< Romance disciplina)2, where the original d- evolved into l-. This suggests EPBasq. *t- became Basque l-, as in these examples:
Basque langa 'enclosure, rustical door; bar, catch; crossbeam' ~ Catalan tanca < EPBsq. *tanka (IE *tengh-s- 'pole')
Basque lan(h)o, laino 'cloud, fog' ~ non-std Basque t(t)anka 'drop' < EPBsq. *tank:A (PNC *t’Hænk’o 'drop, spray')
Initial *t- was apparently absent from Late PBsq., as d- is exceedingly rare in modern Basque outside of recent borrowings and verbal forms. Although Trask noticed this anomaly in Mitxelena's system, he didn't offer any explanation1.
The key is found in borrowings like lanjer (< French danger) or lizifrina (< Romance disciplina)2, where the original d- evolved into l-. This suggests EPBasq. *t- became Basque l-, as in these examples:
Basque langa 'enclosure, rustical door; bar, catch; crossbeam' ~ Catalan tanca < EPBsq. *tanka (IE *tengh-s- 'pole')
Basque lan(h)o, laino 'cloud, fog' ~ non-std Basque t(t)anka 'drop' < EPBsq. *tank:A (PNC *t’Hænk’o 'drop, spray')
It looks like Iberian t was actually realized like a dental affricate [ts]3 which gave a lamino-alveolar sibilant [s] (Basque <z>)4 in loanwords from that language in Basque:
Basque zohi 'clod of earth; brick' < Iberian *tok:i but lohi 'mud', idoi 'pool, puddle; bog, marsh' < EPBsq. *(i-)tok:i (Starostin's PSC *[t]VQV́ 'dirty, clay')
EPBsq. *t:- gave Basque is h or zero, as in these examples:
Basque haga 'stake, pole' < EPBasq. *t:akA ~ non-standard tako 'block of wood, wedge' (PNC *dwɨq’(w)V: 'log, stump')
Basque -ar 'male', Aquitanian HAR- ~ non-std Basque *-tar 'man' < EPBasq. *t:ar: (PNC *dlʒiwlV 'man, male')
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1 The History of Basque (1997), p.136.
2 It's worth noticing these words are geographically restricted to a few dialects.
3 See his Economie des changements phonétiques (1955).
4 This sound shift is often quoted by Ibero-Basquists (defensors of a close relationship between Basque and Iberian) as being a native Basque one.
3 See his Economie des changements phonétiques (1955).
4 This sound shift is often quoted by Ibero-Basquists (defensors of a close relationship between Basque and Iberian) as being a native Basque one.
1. You should probably rewrite some of your older entries using the older transcription (previous /kh/ instead of current /k:/ etc.).
ReplyDelete2. I don't get this. So, */t:ok:i/ is non-std EPBq. < Proto-Iberian */tok:i/???
So, we have...
EPBq. */tok:i/, */i-tok:i/
Bq. /lohi/, /idoi/
This I understand. But why is there */t:ok:i/ of the same meaning in EPBq (as implied by the last sentence in the fifth paragraph: "...For example, EPBasq. *t:ok:i > Basque zohi 'clod of earth; brick'..."). Are you saying this EPBq from was a loanword from Iberian? But how had Iberian get this */t:-/? Native Iberian */t:-/ = Native EPBq */t-/, both < PVC */d/??????
So, you should write Bq */zohi/ < Iberian */t:ok:i/ = EPBq */tok:i/ or something like that. Your "explanations are rather confusing".
So:
EPBq */t:/ > Bq */0/
EPBq */t/ > Bq */l-, -d-/
Bq /t/ < loanwords
Bq /z/ < EPBq */s:/
Bq /z/ < loanwords (e.g. Iberian /t/ > EPBq /s:/)
I feel I get it all wrong. Please, explain or correct your entry.
Thanks for your valuable feedback, Petr. I also got myself a little confused.
ReplyDeleteThe examples below would represent what I think is the std evolution in Basque:
EPBsq. *t:akA > Basque haga
EPBsq. *tanka > Basque langa
EPBsq. *tank:A > Basque lan(h)o, laino
These reconstructions are supported by non-std Basque words or loanwords in Romance languages.
I think Iberian *t was actually realized as a dental affricate, so loanwords from that language would have initial z in Basque, which definitely wasn't native.
Hopefully, you don't consider Basque haga and langa (rather from Lat. planca) related in any (but semantic) way, do you? By the way, your "non-standard" tako above is quite simmilar to PIE *(s)teg-...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, let me summarize the laws you propose, because no-one can analyze your thoughts without understanding them properly:
§1. Tense stops are lost.
§1.1. EPBq *t: > LPBq *th > ModBq h/0
§1.2. EPBq *k: > LPBq *kh > ModBq h/0
§1.3. EPBq *p: > LPBq *ph > ModBq h/0
§2. Lax stops are preserved.
§2.1. EPBq *t > LPBq *d > ModBq l-, -d-
§2.2. EPBq *k > LPBq *g > ModBq g
§2.3. EPBq *p > LPBq *b > ModBq b (or m in nasal environment)
Maybe this is the way you should summarize your ideas...hm?
Hopefully, you don't consider Basque haga and langa (rather from Lat. planca) related in any (but semantic) way, do you? By the way, your "non-standard" tako above is quite simmilar to PIE *(s)teg-...
ReplyDeletePetr, the word **planca doesn't exist in Latin nor can be the source of Basque langa. I suppose you read this in Trask, didn't you?
PIE *(s)teg- and *tengh-s- are of course related to PNC *dwɨq’(w)V:
§1. Tense stops are lost.
§1.1. EPBq *t: > LPBq *th > ModBq h/0
§1.2. EPBq *k: > LPBq *kh > ModBq h/0
§1.3. EPBq *p: > LPBq *ph > ModBq h/0
LPBsq. is *h in all these cases.
Maybe this is the way you should summarize your ideas...hm?
In my own case, a little bit of chaos helps creativity to manifest itself.
Tavi writes:
ReplyDeletePetr, the word **planca doesn't exist in Latin nor can be the source of Basque langa. I suppose you read this in Trask, didn't you?
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1. How about words like French planche??? Are they nothing?
2. I didn't consult Trask. And I've just discovered it's in the online Basque dictionary (Morris Student Plus), too:
http://www1.euskadi.net/morris/dictionary.htm
So you do consider haga and langa related???
How about words like French planche??? Are they nothing?
ReplyDeleteThis word is semantically unrelated to Basque and was absent from Classical Latin. It appeared on Early Medieval Latin.
2. I didn't consult Trask. And I've just discovered it's in the online Basque dictionary (Morris Student Plus), too: http://www1.euskadi.net/morris/dictionary.htm
They obviously relied on Trask. You should check your sources more carefully.
So you do consider haga and langa related???
Basque langa is the very same word than Catalan/Occitan tanca, a loanword from regional IE (i.e. not PIE) *tengh-s- 'pole'. This root is a variant of *(s)teg- 'pole, post', which is a Vasco-Caucasian loanword from the same root than Basque haga ~ PNC *dwɨq’(w)V: 'log, stump'.