Indo-European Linguistics and Philology Commons^™

Law Of Limitation, Dieter Gunkel

Classical Studies Faculty Publications

The ‘Law of Limitation’ refers to a phonological process that limits how far from the end of a word an accent may be located: if the word-final syllable is light, the accent may be located as far from the end of the word as the antepenult, e.g. εὑρήματα[heu̯ rέːmata] ‘discoveries (nom./acc. neuter plural)’, ἐβούλευε [ebóːleu̯ u̯ e] ‘(s)he was deliberating (impf. 3 sg.)’; if the word-final syllable is heavy, the accent may be located as far from word-end as the penult, e.g. εὑρημάτων [heu̯ rεːmátɔːn] ‘discoveries (gen. n. pl.)’, βουλεύω [boːléu̯ u̯ ɔː] ‘I am deliberating (pres. 1 sg.)’ (Göttling …