Indo-European s-mobile

In Indo-European studies, the term s-mobile (/ˈmbl/; the word is a Latin neuter adjective) designates the phenomenon where a PIE root appears to begin with an *s- which is sometimes but not always present. It is therefore represented in the reflex of the root in some attested derivatives but not others.

General description

This "movable" prefix s- appears at the beginning of some Indo-European roots, but is absent from other occurrences of the same root. For example, the stem *(s)táwros, perhaps 'bison', gives Latin taurus and Old English steor (Modern English steer), both meaning 'bull'. Both variants existed side by side in PIE, with Germanic preserving both forms as *steuraz and *þeuraz respectively, but Italic, Celtic, Slavic and others all have words for 'bull' which reflect the root without the s. Compare also: Gothic stiur, German Stier, Avestan staora (cattle); but Old Norse þjórr, Greek tauros, Latin taurus, Old Church Slavonic turъ, Lithuanian tauras, Welsh tarw, Old Irish tarb, Oscan turuf and Albanian taroç.

In other cases it is Germanic which preserves only the form without the s mobile. The root *(s)teg-, 'to cover', has descendants English thatch (Old English þeccan), German decken 'cover', Latin tegō 'cover', but Greek stégō and Russian stog. The fact that there is no consistency about which language groups retain the s-mobile in individual cases proves that it is an original Indo-European phenomenon, and not an element added or lost in the later history of particular languages.

Sometimes subsequent developments can treat the forms with and without the s-mobile quite differently. For example, by Grimm's law PIE *p becomes Proto-Germanic f, but the combination *sp is unaffected by this. Thus the root *(s)prek, perhaps meaning 'scatter' has two apparently quite dissimilar derivatives in English: sprinkle (from nasalized form *sprenk-) and freckle (from *prek-). Another such pair is spring and frog, from *(s)preu, 'to jump'.

S-mobile is always followed by another consonant. Typical combinations are with voiceless stops: *(s)p-, *(s)t-, *(s)k-; with liquids and nasals: *(s)l-, *(s)m-, *(s)n-; and rarely: *(s)w-.

Origins

One theory of the origin of the s-mobile is that it was influenced by a suffix to the preceding word; many inflectional suffixes in PIE are reconstructed as having ended in *s, including the nominative singular and accusative plural of nouns. The s-mobile can therefore be seen as an interference between the words, a kind of sandhi development. So for example, while an alternation between *pekyont and *spekyont (both meaning 'they saw') might be difficult to imagine, an alternation between *wlkwoms pekyont and *wlkwoms spekyont ('they saw the wolves' [1]) is plausible. The two variants would still be pronounced differently, as the double -ss- is distinct from a single -s- (compare English the sink and this sink), but the alternation can now be understood as a simple process of gemination (doubling) or degemination.

This can be understood in two ways.

Further examples

Root[2][3]MeaningReflexes with s-Reflexes without s-
sk *(s)kap- tool Ancient Greek σκεπάρνιον / skeparnion Latin capus
*(s)kel- crooked German schielen 'squint', Greek σκώληξ / skṓlēx 'worm' Greek κῶλον / kō̃lon 'limb'
*(s)kep- cut, scrape English scab Late Latin capulare 'cut'
*(s)ker- cut English shear, share, Russian шку́ра / škúra 'skin' Latin curtus 'short', Russian кора́ / korá 'cortex'
*(s)ker- bent English shrink, Avestan 𐬀𐬥𐬆𐬭𐬀𐬐𐬯 / skarəna 'round' Latin curvus 'curved', Lithuanian kreīvas 'crooked'
*(s)kleu- close German schließen Latin claudere
*(s)kʷal-o- big fish Latin squalus English whale
sl *(s)leug- to swallow German schlucken Old Irish loingid 'eats', Ancient Greek λύζειν / lúzein 'hiccup'
sm *(s)melo- small animal English small Dutch maal 'cow-calf', Irish míol 'animal', Russian ма́лый / mályj 'small'
*(s)meld- melt Dutch smelten English melt, Ancient Greek μέλδειν / méldein
sn *(s)neh₂- swim Vedic Sanskrit स्नाति / snā́ti, Old Irish snáïd Tocharian B nāskeṃ 'wash themselves'
*(s)nēg-o- snake English snake Sanskrit नाग), nāga, 'snake'.
sp *(s)peik- woodpecker, magpie German Specht 'woodpecker' Latin pica 'magpie'
*(s)per- sparrow English sparrow, Ancient Greek ψάρ / psár 'starling' Latin parra
*(s)plei- split English split, splinter English flint
*(s)poi- foam Latin spuma English foam
st *(s)teh₂- stand Latin stare, Dutch staan Irish 'be'
*(s)twer- whirl English storm Latin turba 'commotion'
*(s)ton- thunder Greek stenein English thunder, Latin tonare
sw *(s)wagʰ- resound English sough Ancient Greek ἠχή / ēkhḗ 'sound'
*(s)wendʰ- dwindle, wither German schwinden 'dwindle' Russian вя́нуть / vjánut′, увядáть / uvjadát′ 'wither'

A number of roots beginning in *sl-, *sm-, *sn- look as if they had an s-mobile but the evidence is inconclusive, since several languages (Latin, Greek, Albanian) lost initial s- before sonorants (l, m, n) by regular sound change. Examples include:

Root[2]MeaningReflexes with s-Reflexes without s-
sl *(s)leg- slack English slack Old Irish lacc, Ancient Greek λαγαρός / lagarós
*(s)lei- slimy English slime, Irish sleamhuin 'smooth' Latin limus 'muck', Ancient Greek λείμαξ / leímax 'snail'
sm *(s)mek- chin Irish smeach, Sanskrit श्मश्रु / śmaśru Latin maxilla, Albanian mjekër
sn *(s)neigʷh- snow English snow, Latvian snìegs Latin nix, Ancient Greek νίφα / nípha
*(s)nus- daughter-in-law Icelandic snör, Czech snacha Latin nurus, Ancient Greek νυός / nuós

Notes

  1. Example from Andrew L. Sihler, New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, OUP 1995, p.169.
  2. 1 2 Watkins, Calvert (2000). The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-618-08250-6.
  3. Rix, Helmut; Kümmel, Martin; et al. (2001). Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (in German) (2 ed.). Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. ISBN 3-89500-219-4. OCLC 47295102.

References

External links

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