Torsten:
>>>That p/w thing intrigues me.
Me (gLeN):
>>It shouldn't. It specifically involves the Hattic language. It
>>has nothing to do with IE, AfroAsiatic or the lost language of
>>Mu.
Torsten then characteristically misinterprets:
>And what is that then supposed to mean?
>
>If there is alternation in a language ("specically involving that
>language"), either form can be borrowed into another language. That
>much should be obvious.
What's obvious is that you misread completely. This alternation
is in the WRITING system and probably is *not* a real phonemic
alternation. So, the written /pil/, /pel/, /wil/ and /wel/
may simply reflect different spellings of *[fEl] with a bilabial
fricative that can't be written in Akkadian-derived cuneiform!!
Canadians write "favour" while Americans write "favor" and yet
this has absolutely nothing to do with pronunciation and more
to do with arbitrary spelling preferences.
Torsten asks permission to quote:
>Allow me a quote:
>
>"And yes, there apparently is even p/w alternation for the word for "house"
>(pil, pel, wil, wel). Some p-words don't exhibit the
>alternation in written Hattic, some do. The "house" word does."
Exactly what I said: Some p-words exhibit the alternation... That
is, the words that start with *[f] show this p/w alternation in
the writing system. The p-words that don't exhibit the alternation
begin with a true [p]. Get it now?
Another example, the word for "child" is written both
/pinu/ and /inu/. This is probably because the word is in fact
*finu. The word exists in the name of the god Telepinu, or
rather *Telefinu. If you can build upa case for a pronunciation
like **Telewinu, I'd be interested (and tr�s shocked).
Methinks those wordlists you collect are frying your mind. Take
a rest, Mr Joseph Greenberg 2.0.
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gLeNny gEe
...wEbDeVEr gOne bEsErK!
home:
http://glen_gordon.tripod.com
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