On Thu, 1 Nov 2001 11:52:56 +0100, "Piotr Gasiorowski"
<
gpiotr@...> wrote:
>Latin /a/ is too common as a generalised weak-grade vowel (cf. quattuor, fractus, etc.) to be a sure indicator of *h2. The composition form *h1k^w-i- (> *&kwi- > akki-) would work here as well (BTW the comparative o:cior 'faster' < *o:kwijo:s survives in Latin).
But there is more than just Latin. Pokorny gives hundreds of forms
(which I don't feel like typing in) pointing to *ak^-, *a:k^-, as well
as *ok^-, *o:k^-, from Greek, Celtic, Germanic, Armenian, Slavic,
Baltic, Indo-Iranian, etc., all connected with the meaning "sharp"
(including for instance *ák^-mn "stone"). Assuming most of these are
indeed related, I see no other solution than to posit *h2ek^- (*ak^-),
with Ablaut variants *h2k^- (*&k^-), *h2ok^- (*ok^-), and vrddhied
*a:k^- and *o:k^-.