The Greek Reflexes of *r̥ and *l̥

Abstract

Themain aim of this book is to establish the regular reflexes of the syllabic liquids *r̥ and *l ̥in all AncientGreek dialects, includingMycenaean.These sounds were inherited by Proto-Greek from Proto-Indo-European as allophones of /r/ and /l/ in a number of phonological environments.1 All first millenniumGreek dialects have lost *r̥ and *l,̥ as did most other Indo-European languages upon their first attestation. However, Proto-Greek must have retained them because the alphabetic dialects showvarious different reflexes of *r̥ and *l.̥ For example, the Proto-Greek thematic aorist *amr̥t-e/o‐ ‘to miss, fail’ is continued in IonicAttic as ἥμαρτον, inf. ἁμαρτεῖν, but in Lesbian as inf. αμβροτην (epigraphically)2 and ind. ἄμβροτε (Sapph.). Proto-Greek *tr̥pedia̯ ‘table’ is reflected as to-pe-za in Mycenaean, but as τράπεζα in alphabetic Greek from Homer onwards. Questions that a historical linguist may ask regarding such forms are: what conditioned the difference between the reflexes ‐αρ‐ (ἁμαρτεῖν) and ‐ρα‐ (τράπεζα)? What does the Mycenaean form to-pe-za represent phonologically and phonetically?Why does Lesbian have a reflex ‐ρο‐ in ἄμβροτε, but ‐αρ‐ or ‐ρα‐ in several other forms? Is the o-reflex, in those dialects where we find it, subject to phonological conditioning or is it found across the board? The bibliography on the syllabic liquids in Greek is large, and not every previous treatment of the topic will receive equal attention in this book. In section 1.1, where I discuss a selection of previous scholarship, the main aim is to illustrate the different issues that are at stake. Once these issues have been presented, the scope of this investigation will be delimited more precisely.