§ 14.] PHONETICS SEMIVOWELS. 7 



(2) An original s exceptionally becomes y in Av. gaosa-, 0. goy, an ear. Perhaps, 

 in this case, the s has really been elided, and the y represents an I, as a feminine ter- 

 mination. Cf. § 28, 14. 



(3) We have prothesis of y in Av. aspa-, 0, yasp, a horse. On the other hand, 

 from Av. asta, we have O. hast, eight, with prothesis of h. 



(4) y is frequently inserted before a long vowel. Thus : — 



Before a. P. masai, O. myasl (borrowed), a mosquito ; Prs. madiyan, 0. mydndeni 

 (borrowed), a mare. 



Before 0. x\v. dva , O. dyo, two ; 0. wazok or wazyok, to kill ; Av. gao-, Skr. go-, 

 O. giyoy, a cow. 



Before u. This is very common, as in Prs. poz, O. pyuz, the face ; Skr. dru-, 0. 

 dyur\ firewood ; Av. raoc-ah-, O. ryw,?, a day ; 0. ^yws, tyuz, you, but /ii, thou ; O. 

 Prs. uska-, O. wyuk, dry. In Skr. mayura-, 0. myaur, a peacock, it is doubtful if the 

 y is original or not. 



Before e. There is a special tendency to insert y before a medial e. We see this 

 best in infinitives ending in ek. Here a faint sound of y is audible before the e, as in 

 yttf-ek, to weave. If the root ends in a vowel, nasalized or not, they is fully sounded, 

 as in hayek, to sit. 



This insertion of y before a long vowel is evidently borrowed from Wazirl P\sto. 



See § 47. 



§ 14. ze'. 

 (i) z£'=original y, z£' : — 



{a) Initial : — This occurs only when the letter was originally medial, as in Av. 

 aiu'i 4- ^jan-, 0. waz-yok, to kill. Such a word as O. w"n'\ a tree, is bor- 

 rowed from the P. wana. 



(J)) Medial : — Av. navaiti-, 0. nawl, ninety ; Av. navaya-, O. ndw'\ a hill-valley. 



(2) Original initial va or vi becomes ywa. Thus, Av. \/vac-, 0. ywahi, he speaks ; 

 Skr. vatsa-, 0. ywab, a calf ; Av. ^vaz-, to fly, O. ywaza, he falls ; Av. y/va^s-, 0. ywas^, 

 grass ; Skr. visravayati, O. ywasal, he washes ; Skr vitrasati, 0. ywasra, he fears ; Skr. 

 vrsyate, he is selected, O. ywarsi, he appears good. Original va becomes yd, as in Av. 

 vara-, 0. yor-'ek, to rain. But original vl becomes jl (§ 27). In one case, O. Prs. 

 y/*varsi-, Prs. gastan, O. gist-'ek, to return, the presence of g instead of y is explained 

 by the fact that the word is borrowed from Prs. Though written gist-, the 0. word 

 is probably g"st-. See § i. Rem. i. 



(3) x^ = original xv (Skr. sw). Thus, Av. x^afna-, O. xw5'<^, a dream ; Av. x^^'^har-, 

 O. x^^^^, a sister ; Skr. swasrlya-, O. x'^^^kai, a sister's son ; Av. y/x^(i^-, O- x^^^-^k, to 

 eat; but ; x^wm, he eats; Skr. ^/ sward-, to taste, 0. x^^?'. sweet, 



(4) (^z£; = original dv in Av. dvadasa, 0. dwas, twelve. On the other hand, it is 

 vocalized in Av. dva, 0. d{y)d, two, and becomes h in Av. dvar-, O. and Kurd, bar, 

 a door. 



(5) ^^ =an original medial p, as in Av. fsu-pdna-, O. swan, a shepherd ; Av. v/ 

 ap-, O. z£/-c5^ to obtain ; Av. dp-, O. w"-^, water ; Av. x^^p-, O- sw, night (cf. Kurd. 

 s«w). An original initial p is retained (§ 40, i). 



