On the Development of the Proto-Indo-European *u ̯ ih1-ró-, ‘Man’, in Latin1
On the Development of the Proto-Indo-European *u ̯ ih1-ró-, ‘Man’, in Latin1

Summary/Abstract: The present article investigates the problem of the etymology and development of the Latin word vir, ‘man,’ usually assumed to have descended from the Proto-Indo-European form *u ̯ ih1-ró-, ‘man’, but with somewhat irregular and not commonly accepted pretonic shortening of thevowel in view of the cognates in Indo-Iranian and Baltic. The short eningis usually explained as an effect of Dybo’s Rule, but it is pointed out that there might be a simpler solution to explaining the change, namely, the so-called Osthoff’s law, which occurred in the prehistory and history of Latinat least three times.

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