Re: pronunciation of laryngeals

From: MCLSSAA2@...
Message: 6066
Date: 2001-02-12

What are the outcomes in Hittite of H1 H2 H3? [ezz-] for "eat" seems
to show that PIE initial H1 dropped. If Hittite H largely represents
PIE H2, a PIE pronunciation of H2 as Arabic [h.] in "Muh.ammad",
becoming Hittite "ch" as in German or Scottish, is exactly paralleled
by how it developed in Hebrew (written as the letter "heth" or
"cheth") as its speakers were dispersed from their homeland in Roman
times and many came to Europe and their pronunciation of Hebrew was
thoroughly Europeanized.

If Hittite has H for PIE H3, and PIE H3 was the ayin sound, well, I
have heard voiceless sounds similar to this H produced by modern
Israelis of European descent trying to pronounce the Arabic-type ayin
sound. If you wonder why so few of the many peoples that the
Indo-European speakers imposed their language on around 2000 BC, got
H2 H3 right, ask anyone who teaches Semitic languages to Europeans
what tends to be heard when his students try to pronounce these two
sounds.