Marc V:
>Yes, it's a very strange rule. Are there comparable examples in other
>languages? Why with *a-?
Yes, I admit it's strange but this is what I'm detecting for
some reason. The Tyrrhenian side of IndoTyrrhenian is clearly
different when it comes to vowel system. It appears to have
de-centralized the two-vowel system of *[&, a] in favour
of a fuller, triangular system:
*i *u
*e *o
*a
The vowel *o (merged with /u/ in Etruscan) is nothing more than
a rounded variant of *a, and *e derives from IndoT *e (schwa).
The vowels *i and *u are the contracted descendants of earlier
*ei and *eu.
It would appear to me that *a had become the new schwa, so to speak.
That is, the central vowel *a became the standard unstressed
vowel and thematic. Perhaps, the association of this vowel to a
lack of stress caused the accent shift in the minority of words
containing *a in the first syllable.
Thoughts?
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gLeNny gEe
...wEbDeVEr gOne bEsErK!
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