Geers' law is a
phonological
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
rule for
Akkadian language
Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...
according to which two different
emphatic consonants (''ṭ, ṣ, ḳ'') cannot occur in one Akkadian word. It is named after
Friedrich Geers who discovered it in 1945.
The law usually pertains to inherited
Proto-Semitic roots whose emphatics were usually
dissimilated. Compare:
* Proto-Semitic *ṣ̂bṭ > Akkadian ''ṣabātu'' "to seize"
* Proto-Semitic *ḳṭn > Akkadian ''ḳatānu'' "to be thin"
* Proto-Semitic *ḳṣr > Akkadian ''kaṣāru'' "to bind"
* Proto-Semitic *ṣ̂yḳ> Akkadian ''siāḳu'' "to be narrow"
Such dissimilation is more likely if the emphatics were glottalized.
It also affected loanwords, such as
Amorite
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied la ...
*qṭl > Akkadian ''ḳtl''. In rare cases it did not apply, such as ''ḳaṣû'' instead of ''kaṣû''.
If Proto-Semitic emphatics were
ejective
In phonetics, ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated, voiced and tenuis consonants. Some ...
s, then the Geers' law is explained as a manifestation of the widespread constraint in languages having ejectives, which forbids cooccurrence of two ejectives in a root.
Notes
References
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Akkadian language
Consonants
Sound laws
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