This article investigates a certain irregularity in the Greek sound changes, namely that associated with the Greek form ϑ ήρ ‘beast’, assumed to come from the sequence */ĝhṷ/ but treated exactly like the aspirated labiovelar. It is shown that the examples upon which this hypothesis was built are in themselves quite doubtful and even though more examples of this change can be found, they still remain insecure. The sound change is then neither confirmed nor falsified but certain phonetic details of its process are investigated.

This article investigates a certain irregularity in the Greek sound changes, namely that associated with the Greek form ϑ ήρ ‘beast’, assumed to come from the sequence */ĝhṷ/ but treated exactly like the aspirated labiovelar. It is shown that the examples upon which this hypothesis was built are in themselves quite doubtful and even though more examples of this change can be found, they still remain insecure. The sound change is then neither confirmed nor falsified but certain phonetic details of its process are investigated.