Re: [tied] PIE *a (was: Day and dies, deus and theos)

Here we have it next to *h2, the "a-colouring" laryngeal. Treat is as a positional variant (allophone) of *e, if you like. There are arguments pro and con reconstructing *a as a distinct phoneme in pre-dispersal PIE. When in doubt, I prefer a surface-based "phonetic" transcription of IE words to citing abstract underlying forms.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: jekl@...

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 6:32 PM

Subject: [tied] PIE *a (was: Day and dies, deus and theos)

Hi! I can read that *a didn't really exist in PIE, except in onomatopeic or emphatic words (e.g. ah!), and it developed in daughter languages from *e,*o influenced by laryngeal sounds (and by borrowings, I suppose). But then I see reconstructed words with *a, like e.g. below *h2ag^H(e)n-. So, how it really is? I guess the issue is not really settled yet...