Indo-European s-mobile
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In Indo-European studies, the term s mobile (mobile pronounced as in Italian; the word is a Latin neuter adjective) designates the phenomenon where a PIE root begins with an *s- which is sometimes but not always present. It is therefore represented in the reflex of the root in some attested derivatives but not others. This "moveable" prefix s- is always followed by another consonant. Typical combinations are with voiceless stops: *(s)p-, *(s)t-, *(s)k-; with liquids and nasals: *(s)l-, *(s)m-, *(s)n-; and rarely: *(s)w-.
For example, the stem *(s)tauro-, perhaps meaning 'bison', gives us Latin taurus and Old English steor, both meaning 'bull'. Both variants existed side by side in PIE, but whereas Germanic (aside from North Germanic) has preserved the form with the s mobile, Italic, Celtic, Slavic and others all have words for 'bull' which reflect the root without the sibilant. Compare also: English steer, Gothic stiur, German Stier - but Old Norse þjórr, Greek tauros, Latin taurus, Old Church Slavonic turu, Russian tur, Welsh tarw, Old Irish tarb, Oscan turuf and Albanian taroç.
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[edit] S mobile in Germanic languages
In other cases it is Germanic which preserves forms without the s mobile. The root *(s)teg-, 'to cover', gives us English thatch, German decken 'cover', but Greek stégō and Russian stog. The fact that there is no consistency about which language groups retain the s-mobile in individual cases proves that it is an original Indo-European phenomenon, and not an element added or lost in the later history of particular languages.
Sometimes subsequent developments can treat the forms with and without the s-mobile quite differently. For example, by Grimm's law a PIE *p becomes Proto-Germanic f, but the combination *sp is unaffected by this. Thus the root *(s)prek, perhaps meaning 'scatter' has two apparently quite dissimilar derivatives in English: sprinkle and freckle. Another such pair is spring and frog, from *(s)preu, 'to jump'.
One theory of the origin of the s mobile is that it was influenced by a suffix to the preceding word. Since the nominative of Indo-European nouns often ended in *-s, it follows that verbs were frequently preceded by this phoneme. If the verb itself began with an s-, the result was a double s, which was eliminated in late PIE through a simplification of geminates which is also observable elsewhere in the language. Obviously this could not happen to related forms which were used in different syntactic positions. By this view, the forms with the *s- are original. This seems more likely than the opposite view, that roots which originally had no *s- gained one by assimilation from the preceding suffix.
[edit] Further examples
| Root | Meaning | Derivatives with s- | Derivatives without s- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sk | *(s)kap- | tool | Greek skeparnion | Latin capus |
| *(s)kel- | crooked | German schielen ('to squint'), Greek skolex ('worm') | Greek kolon ('limb') | |
| *(s)kep- | cut, scrape | English scab | Late Latin capulare ('cut') | |
| *(s)ker- | cut | English shear, sheer, share | Latin curtus ('short') | |
| *(s)ker- | bend | English shrink | Latin curvus ('curved') | |
| *(s)kleu- | close | German schließen | Latin claudere | |
| *(s)kwal-o- | big fish | Latin squalus | English whale | |
| sl | *(s)leg- | slack | English slack | Latin laxus |
| *(s)lei- | slimy | English slime | Latin linere ('anoint') | |
| sm | *(s)mek- | chin | Irish smeach | Latin maxilla |
| *(s)melo- | small animal | English small | Gaelic mial ('louse') | |
| sn | *(s)neigwh- | snow | English snow | Latin nix |
| *(s)nus- | daughter-in-law | Old High German snuor | Latin nurus | |
| sp | *(s)peik- | woodpecker, magpie | German Specht ('woodpecker') | Latin pica ('magpie') |
| *(s)plei- | split | English split, splinter | English flint | |
| *(s)perg- | sparrow | Old English spearwa | Latin parra | |
| st | *(s)teh2- | stand | Latin sto, English stand | Irish ta ('be') |
| *(s)twer- | whirl | English storm | Latin turba ('commotion') | |
| sw | *(s)wagh- | resound | English sough |
[edit] References
- Mark R.V. Southern, Sub-Grammatical Survival: Indo-European s-mobile and its Regeneration in Germanic, Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph 34 (1999).
- K. Shields, Indo-European s-mobile and Indo-European morphology , Emérita 64, no2 (1996), pp. 249-254.
