The origin of Lydian /o/

Ilya Yakubovich (University of Marburg; sogdiana783@gmail.com)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 22/3-4, 2024 - p.241-261

Abstract: This paper argues for new sources of the Lydian phoneme /o/ in addition to those acknowledged in contemporary scholarship. It is maintained that the Pre-Lydian accented long vowels *ǣ, *ā and *ṓ, as well as the accented short vowel *á next to a uvular sound, can all yield Lydian /o/. The proposed sound changes are conducive to refining our understanding of Lydian historical morphology and advancing several new etymologies. The phonetic merger under discussion finds parallels in Luwian and probably in Lycian, as opposed to Hittite and Palaic, and thus represents one more isogloss that is relevant for the subgrouping of the Anatolian languages.

Keywords: Lydian language, Luwian language, Lycian language, Anatolian languages, sound change, phylogeny

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