--- In cybalist@..., Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@...> wrote:
> On Sun, 01 Sep 2002 21:46:06 -0000, "apiquinamir"
<apiquinamir@...> wrote:
>
> >Is it common in PIE for roots to have similar meaning and differ
in
> >only the difference of the value of a certain sound (as in pleu-
> >/bhleu-, noting that bh is a voiced aspirant of p), and is this
how
> >distinctions were made in meaning?
>
> No, it's not common, and it's not a known grammatical mechanism.
This phenomenon has been encountered in other language groups, e.g.
Tai. The distinctions there are variations in aspiration and
voicing - voiceless v. voiced v. voiceless aspirate. (This voicing
contrast is, for the most part, no longer phonetically present, but,
roughly speaking, is preserved by a doubling up of the original three
tones. Modern voiced plosives derive from pre-glottalised
plosives.) These discrepancies sometimes seem to be a matter of
areal preference - Northern Tai often contrasts with Central and SW
Tai, but in other cases they seem to have some grammatical function.
There are similar variations in the original tone. (Sometimes the
two combine, e.g. the contrast between demonstrative pronouns and
adjectives in Siamese.) The obvious guess is that these variations
are due to prefixes (or suffixes) that have worn away. (Eroded
syllables are also suggested as the cause of tonal contrasts in the
first place.)
A long time ago, Piotr suggested that we discuss the very similar
roots in IE. No-one seems to have taken the idea up.
Richard.