sepelio.

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sepel-ye- (“to honor”), itself from *sep- (“to care”). The term has an exact parallel in Sanskrit सपर्यति (saparyáti, “to honor”). Regarding the Proto-Italic intermediary, Schrijver suggests that it must be reconstructed as *sepeljō, having retained consonantal yod and therefore escaping the effects of Exon's law. However, as noted by Schrijver, such a reconstruction does contradict the theory that third conjugation iō-verbs and fourth conjugations verbs first became differentiated to epenthesis before yod after a heavy syllable. It is perhaps possible that the verb was originally thid conjugation, but then remodeled later into a fourth conjugation verb. De Vaan explains the presence of -e- instead of **-i- in the first syllable despite the following l pinguis as the result of assimilation to the following -e-. Weiss, however, cites a phenomenon known as the alacer-rule, according to which a short vowel in an open medial syllable may retain its quality if it is identical to vowel in the following syllable and if they are seperated by only one consonant. As evidence of this development, Weiss cites calamitās. Cognate with Sanskrit सप् (sap, “to honor”), and Ancient Greek ἕπω (hépō, “to busy oneself with”).