Ruki sound law

The Ruki sound law is a Proto-Indo-European sound change in which *s became a retracted sibilant after *r, *u, *k, or *i in several descendant branches.

Connect

Sibilant: A consonant sound produced by directing airflow toward the teeth to create a high-frequency hissing or buzzing noise. The law changes the place of articulation of the Proto-Indo-European sibilant *s.
Proto-Indo-Iranian: The reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-Iranian languages. Ruki retraction is prominent in the later history of this branch.
Proto-Indo-European: The reconstructed ancestor of the Indo-European language family. The law is conventionally described as a change affecting its *sibilant.
Ruki rule exceptions: Forms that fail to show the expected retraction of *s in environments associated with the Ruki sound law. Exceptions help define the rule's limits and the histories of individual forms.
Retroflex consonant: A consonant articulated with the tongue tip curled or drawn back toward the palate. Retroflex sibilants are a characteristic Ruki outcome in Indo-Iranian.
Sanskrit: An ancient Indo-Aryan language preserved in a large corpus of religious, literary, and scholarly texts. Its retroflex sibilant reflexes display the law in a well-documented form.
Indo-Iranian languages: A major branch of Indo-European comprising the Indo-Aryan and Iranian language groups. This branch preserves especially clear evidence for the change.
Sound change chronology: The ordering of sound changes within the historical development of a language or language branch. The law's relative timing affects how its outcomes are reconstructed.
Phonological conditioning: The influence of a sound's phonological environment on the realization or historical development of another sound. The law applies only when *s follows one of four specified sounds.
Avestan: An ancient Iranian language in which the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, is preserved. Its sibilant correspondences provide evidence for Ruki developments in Iranian.