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.
