A neglected phonetic law: The assimilation of pretonic yod to a following coronal in North-West Semitic

Romain Garnier (1) , Guillaume Jacques (2)

1 EHIC - Axe 1 - EHIC - Axe 1 : Gestion de l'après-conflit
2 CRLAO - Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale

This paper shows the existence of a pretonic assimilation of *y to a following coronal consonant (including *y from proto-Semitic *y and *w) in North-West Semitic languages. This rule, which has been obscured by analogy in each of the North-West Semitic languages, explains three independent sets of facts: the formation of irregular maqtal-s in Hebrew, Phoenician and Aramaic; the irregular conjugations of several verbs in Hebrew; and the plural formation of the irregular noun "house" in Hebrew and Aramaic. This proposal also solves the long-standing problem of the etymology of the verb "to give" in North-West Semitic languages (NTN in Hebrew vs. YTN in Phoenician).

Mots clés: Gemination; Assimilation; Coronal consonant; Hebrew; Phoenician; Aramaic

Domaines: Linguistique

Romain Garnier, Guillaume Jacques. A neglected phonetic law: The assimilation of pretonic yod to a following coronal in North-West Semitic. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2012, 75 (1), pp.135-145. ⟨halshs-00677816⟩