Re: Nominative: A hybrid view

Hi Rob,

> > Both dom and dem are possible,
> > > of course, but they have a completely different tone quality

and

> > that
> > > was my point.
> >
> > ... and the tone quality may or may not change the quality of

the

> > related consonants...
> >
>
> Am I correct in saying that your point is basically that the
> differences in vowel quality between "dom" and "dem" were

originally

> differences in tone?

Yes. Most generally, all speech should have been just tone in
the beginning.

>
> If so, this gives credence to my belief that PIE -- or its parent
> language -- had a very neutral vowel system centered around

the low

> central vowel /a/.

That would sound interesting as an idea. I would indeed
describe a as being neutral.

Any monovocalic system will likely have /a/ as

> its vowel, as you've pointed out that /a/ allows for the fullest
> possible voice.

It is simply neither too deep, nor too shallow, nor too rounded or
too wide. It is a compromise.

That being said, (Pre-)PIE was *not* entirely

> monovocalic. The low central vowel was articulated two

different

> ways: with a high tone (> & "schwa" > e) and a low tone (> a >

o).

This sounds very logical.

> Also, syllabic /y/ and /w/ were realized as /i/ and /u/,

respectively.

I think I might need some clarification on that.

Eva