Second Meeting

Abstract

I. Dr FENNELL stated a theory of the representation of Indo-Geraiiinic Isounds in early Sanskrit in the form of two propositions and a corollary. The first proposition is that— The weak grade of Indo-European elis represented in the earliest Sanskrit by the vowel r (r) or ir, Ir or ur, ur (at the time of the change of such ul, ul to such ur, ur respectively, these vowels written u, n were not Indo-Germanic usounds but rounded isounds and therefore palatal). The second proposition is that Indo-Germanic Isounds of syllables which contained a palatal consonant were represented by Sanskrit r unless (A) a dental consonant immediately followed (in which case we find the phenomena classified under Fortunatov's Law), or (B) the instance fell under the first proposition. The corollary is that— As the alleged sonant -I (I) followed by a consonant other than I is regularly changed to r or a vowel and r, while I is only changed to r when affected by palatal consonants, there was not that intimate relation between I and the early Sanskrit weak grade of el which has been assumed, but that this weak grade contained a vowel which in early Sanskrit was palatal, namely an isound or a rounded isound. It follows also that the so-called vowel r, the Sanskrit r, contained an isound. Early Sanskrit Isounds were dental and rsounds cerebral (lingual); but phenomena suggest that I was nearer to the cerebral configuration than other dentals and r nearer to the palatal configuration than other cerebrals (linguals). A number of examples in support of the theory were adduced and exceptional cases exhaustively discussed. Skt. aratni'elbow,' 'forearm' is not akin to Lat. ulna, u>\£vr), but to Skt. arus 'joint,' Lat. artus. In the sense ' refreshing drink ' ird, Id.-G. aid is akin to Eng. 'ale' (olu-), but represents Id.-G. 3rd in the senses 'earth,' 'water.' Most of the few exceptional cases which cannot be explained as due to analogy or assimilation are isolated or rare forms, of which no probable etymology has been offered. The only exceptional cases of this kind of which the etymology is ascertained are the isolated alipsata and qalyd-, the rare puluand glokd(which may have been associated with a special class of noises and so exempted from change). This theory owes much to H. D. Darbishire's paper on ' The Sanskrit Liquids,' Relliquiae Philologicae, pp. 199—264.