English Explanatory Dictionary

boukólos rule

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A rule of the Proto-Indo-European reconstructed language that states that a labiovelar stop (*kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ) dissimilates to an ordinary velar stop (*k, *g, *gʰ) next to the vowel *u or its corresponding glide *w.

Word forms

boukólos rule the boukólos rule

Etymology

The rule is named after an example of such a dissimilation: the Ancient Greek βουκόλος (boukólos, “cowherd”), which is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷow-kólos, from *gʷṓws (“cow”) + *kʷól-os (“herder”).

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