Sievers' law
E520888
Sievers' law is a historical phonological rule in Indo-European linguistics that explains the alternation between consonantal and vocalic forms of certain sounds (notably *y and *w) depending on the weight of the preceding syllable.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Sievers' law canonical | 1 |
Statements (43)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Indo-European sound law
ⓘ
historical linguistics concept ⓘ phonological rule ⓘ sound law ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
Germanic languages
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Greek ⓘ Indo-European daughter languages ⓘ Proto-Germanic NERFINISHED ⓘ Proto-Indo-European NERFINISHED ⓘ Vedic Sanskrit NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| basedOn | weight of the preceding syllable ⓘ |
| concerns |
alternation between consonantal and vocalic allophones
ⓘ
glides ⓘ segments *y and *w ⓘ semivowels ⓘ syllable structure ⓘ syllable weight ⓘ |
| field |
Indo-European linguistics
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
historical phonology ⓘ phonology ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeName | Sievers' alternation NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasImpactOn |
phonological theory of glides
ⓘ
prosodic phonology in Indo-European studies ⓘ |
| hasKeyConcept |
consonantal allophone
ⓘ
heavy syllable ⓘ light syllable ⓘ vocalic allophone ⓘ |
| influenced |
analysis of Germanic morphology
ⓘ
reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European forms ⓘ |
| involves |
allophonic alternation
ⓘ
distribution of glides and vowels ⓘ morphophonemic alternations ⓘ prosodic conditioning ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Eduard Sievers NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf | Indo-European sound laws NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Indo-European ablaut patterns
ⓘ
moraic structure ⓘ syllable quantity ⓘ |
| states |
that *y and *w appear as consonantal after light syllables
ⓘ
that *y and *w appear as vocalic after heavy syllables ⓘ |
| timeOfFormulation | late 19th century ⓘ |
| usedIn |
comparative reconstruction
ⓘ
etymological analysis ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.