Dear Cybalisters:
<snip>. . .that *a doesn't appear
in non-stressed syllables and that this a-colouring helps me prove
this (since *k and *q were once allophones).[PCR]The reason that *a does not appear - non-stress accentuated syllables is that all *a originated as a lengthening of the original Nostratic vowel *a to *a:, that was occasioned by a preceding or following 'laryngeal' (all *H acted with equal effect), and, rarely, by the suppression of aspiration in *ph, *th, and *kh, which, at an early date, contrasted with *p, *t, and *k.Lacking lengthening, all Nostratic vowels appear in IE and *e/*o.However, Nostratic Dorsal+*e developed into a y-glide + *e/*o in IE, and consequently is the ultimate cause of satemization (*g^, *g^h, *k^, *k^h, *g^w, *k^w).The last two deserve some special comment. IE *gwV/*kwV is *not* a result of Nostratic *k?o/*kho but rather Nostratic *x and *xh, dorsal fricatives. That is why they can be palatalized (from Nostratic *xe/*xhe).
PatPATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE@...
(501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA
WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE: http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/
and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html"Veit ec at ec hecc, vindgá meiði a netr allar nío,
geiri vndaþr . . . a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit,
hvers hann af rótom renn." (Hávamál 138)