『英語語源辞典』の巻末にある「印欧語根表」を眺めていると，s で始まる語根において，頭の s が括弧に入れられて表記されているものが少なくない．(s)ker-, (s)mer-, (s)pen-, (s)preg-, (s)teg- などだ．このオンとオフを示唆する (s)- は印欧祖語の再建において難しい問題を呈している．*(s)teg- "cover" を例に，Lass (118--19) に解説してもらおう．

   As we saw in teg-ō vs. stég-os, etc. . . . , certain roots appear to have 'optional' initial /s/; or perhaps better, to occur in two forms, one with and one without */s/, hence the conventional description of this phenomenon as 'mobile s'. The root 'cover' then might be represented as */(s)teg-/, or */steg-, teg/. . . .
   . . . .
   Awareness of s-mobile suggests an interesting perambulation through the lexicon of a language like English, given its enormous propensity for borrowing. The root */(s)teg-/ (in its various ablaut grades) appears in English in at least nine lexemes, both native and borrowed. Thatch of course we have already seen, and tile < tīgele < L tēg-ula. We also have borrowed L toga, and from this via French togs, a clipping of tog(e)mans 'cloak'. Still on the s-less alternant, there are various derivatives of L teg-ō and its forms, like in-teg-ument, pr-tec-t 'provide shelter for', de-tec-t 'un-cover'. The s-root is not well represented in English, but from (neo-)Greek we have the dinosaur steg-o-saurus 'roofed or covered lizard', and the rare sixteenth-century coinage steg-ano-graphy 'secret or cryptic writing'.

　s-mobile は，印欧祖語の母音交替 (gradation or ablaut) の子音版とみることもできるかもしれないが，母音版ほど体系的でもなく，事例も散発的である．

　・ 寺澤 芳雄（編集主幹）　『英語語源辞典』新装版　研究社，2024年．
　・ Lass, Roger. Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion. Cambridge: CUP, 1994.

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