Eichner’s law: a critical survey of the evidence

Abstract

In a 1973 article on the etymology of Hitt. mēḫur ‘time, period’, Eichner argued that Proto-Indo-European *h2 did not colour *ē. This rule, which is commonly referred to as Eichner’s law, was later extended to also apply to *h3. This article reassesses the evidence that would show that *ē is not coloured by an adjacent laryngeal. It also analyzes some potential counterevidence to Eichner’s law. This leads to the conclusion that PIE *ē was coloured by an adjacent laryngeal in at least Greek, Baltic and Italo-Celtic and that there is insufficient evidence for non-colouration of *ē in any of the other branches of Indo-European.