Evidence for vowel nasalization in early Greek

Abstract The initial syllable of Attic-Ionic ὦμος ‘shoulder’, ὦνος ‘purchase’, and κῶμος ‘revelry’ contained the low-mid vowel /ɔː/. However, in these words a high-mid /oː/ would normally be expected. In the present paper, it is argued that Gk. *[oː] was nasalized and subsequently lowered to *[ɔ̃ː] under certain circumstances. Nasal vowels frequently show height alternations. The long vowel system of Attic-Ionic contained both /oː/ and /ɔː/, and in languages with two mid vowel heights neutralization of mid vowels in nasal contexts is very common.