Fortunatov's law explained

Fortunatov's law is the observation, in the development of Sanskrit from Proto-Indo-European, that when *l is followed by a dental consonant, the dental becomes retroflex and the *l is deleted, eg. PIE *bʰelsos > Sanskrit bhā́ṣā (compare Lithuanian bal̃sas) and PIE *poltos > Sanskrit paṭa, Greek péltē.^[1] This law is not uniform.

See also

• Glottalic theory
• Grassmann's law
• Stigler's law of eponymy

Notes and References

1. A Reconsideration of Fortunatov's Law . 612903 . Burrow . T. . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London . 1972 . 35 . 3 . 531–545 . 10.1017/S0041977X00121159 . 154831426 .