To save this word, you'll need to log in.
Definition of palatal law
: a statement in historical linguistics: Indo-European guttural consonants become palatals in Indo-Iranian when followed by the palatal vowel i or by an a which is equivalent to Greek and Latin e but remain gutturals when followed by the guttural vowel u or by an a which is equivalent to Greek and Latin a or o, thus establishing the a, e, and o found in the European languages as original Indo-European
Comments on palatal law
What made you want to look up palatal law? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
May 2020 Words of the Day Quiz
- Which is a synonym of exiguous?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Share palatal law