PHONOLOGY 81 close for such changes to have taken place independently. In Lithuanian the same kind of development is observed, but only in connection with r, which points to a remoter contact than was the case between Indo-Iranian and Slavonic, Cerebralisation of $ does not take place in Sanskrit when r or r immediately follows : e.g. visra- 4 bad-smelling (meat) cf. visa-, etc., Av. vaesa- ‘ corruption ’ ; list as, tisfbhis, tisfn&m , from tri- 4 three 7 ; gen. s. usrds from usar - 4 dawn sisrate from sar - 4 to go In Avestan there is no such restriction, e.g, tisrd, nom. pi. fem. cf. dri- ‘ three §10. The So-Called Mobile s Indo-European s when it formed the first member of an initial consonant group, was an unstable sound, and Hable to disappear under conditions which it has not been possible accurately to define. Forms with and without s are found side by side in the various languages, as illustrated by the following examples : Skt, tdnyati 4 thunders 7 , Lat. tondre : Skt, stanayitnu - 4 thunder cf. Gk. arevoj, 0. SI. stenjg , etc. ; Skt. tdyu - 4 thief O. SI. tatu 4 id Gk. r^raco, Hitt, tdya- 'steal': Skt. stend- ' thief ', stdyu-, stay ant- 1 etc. ; Skt. tf tdra 4 star 7 : Skt. stf-, Av. star-, Gk. aarrjp, etc, 4 id 7 ; Skt. tij- 4 to sharpen tigmd- 4 sharp ' : Gk. onypri, etc. ; Skt. tud- 4 to push Lat. tundo : Goth, stautan 4 id 7 ; Skt. phena- 4 foam O. SI. pena : O. Pruss. spoayno , with variant suffix Lat. spuma : Engl. foam ; Skt. plihdn- 4 spleen ' : Av. spzrzzan-, Gk. anX^v, etc. ; Skt. pdsyati 4 sees r : spas - 4 spy Lat, specio ; Skt. khanj- 4 to be lame ' : Gk. aicdCw ; Skt. phdla- 4 plough-share 7 : Pers, supdr ; Pers. fih 4 oar ' : Skt. sphyd- 4 wooden ladle ' ; Av. (vl-) xad - 4 to break up (earth) 7 : Skt. skhad- 4 to smash to pieces cf. Gk. oKehdwvpi ; Skt. nava- r sneeze 4 : Germ. niesen : Engl, sneeze (neu-s- : sneu-s-) ; Skt. lavand- 4 salty, salt 7 ; cf. Lat. sal , nihakd 1 fog nihara- 4 mist, dew 7 : snih - 4 to be moist etc. There is no perfectly satisfactory theory to account for this variation which affects aU Indo-European languages. Most probably it is the result of some kind of external sandhi affecting initial s- in the Indo-European period. It seems fairly clear that the phenomenon is due to loss of initial s, and if this is so the theory that would regard the 5 as the remains of some kind of prefix is out of the question.
