Stang's law
Stang's law is a Proto-Indo-European phonological rule named after the Norwegian linguist Christian Stang. The law governs the word-final sequences of a vowel, followed by a semivowel or a laryngeal, followed by a nasal. According to the law these sequences are simplified such that laryngeals and semivowels are dropped, with compensatory lengthening of a preceding vowel.
This rule is usually cited in more restricted form as: and .
Often the rules and also are added:
- PIE 'sky' > > Sanskrit dyā́m, acc. sg. of dyaús, Latin diem, Greek Ζῆν , acc. of Ζεύς
- PIE 'cow' > > Sanskrit gā́m, acc. sg. of gaús, Greek βών, acc. sg. of βοῦς 'cow'
- acc. sg. of PIE 'house' is, not.
- acc. sg. of PIE 'grain' after laryngeal colouring is the disyllabic, not trisyllabic
