Phonetic Irregularity versus morphological Regularity: the Case of Grassmann’s Law

Grassmann’s Law (= GL) is the well-known dissimilatory phonetic change in virtue of which an original diaspirate root loses one of the two aspirated stops (generally the first one), in Greek (Gk. τίθησι < *θίθησι, τριχός < *θριχός, see nom. θρίξ etc.) and Old Indic. GL is quoted as one of the most ‘shining examples of regularity’ (Hock 1991: 111), even if dissimilation sound changes are generally considered as irregular, sporadic and unnatural (Ohala 1989; 1993, among others). However, a deeper investigation in Greek inscriptions from different dialectal areas shows that this change is less regular than it is generally assumed (Miller 1978; Sanchez Garrido 1988). Some evidence attests the preservation of the original diaspirate roots (see e.g. Att. hέχει, καθέχει; καταθιθέναι; θρεφθε̄́ς etc.); furthermore, non-etymological diaspirate roots are also documented, in which original forms such as *path-/*phat- are both represented as phath- (see e.g. Att. hαρ[ιθμόν; Ἀνθίλοχος; θρόφος; ἐνθαῦθα). The (late) regularization of GL as Lautgesetz in the diachrony of Greek could be due to its role in the verbal morphology, viz. in the reduplicated syllable (see e.g. redupl. perf. τέθνηκα, πέφευγα; redupl. pres. τίθημι, κίχημι and so on). Here, GL acts as a morpho-prosodic rule, by contributing to shape the unmarked template of the reduplicated syllable (CV structure; simplex Onset [only C]; generalization of the vocalic nucleus -e- in the perfect, -i- in the present, despite the quality of the root vowel etc.). Cross-linguistically, non aspirated stops are less marked than the corresponding aspirated (see Maddieson 1984: 27). Therefore, we conclude that GL in the reduplicated syllable represents a different, regular morpho-prosodic process (= GL2) as compared to GL as (non systematic) sound change. The different character of the two processes is supported by the fact that GL as sound change (= GL1) usually does not cross morphemic boundaries, whereas GL2 operates between two different morphemes, the root and the prefixed reduplicated syllable.