Re: [tied] IE Roots

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "aquila_grande" <aquila_grande@...>
wrote:

> The notion that the ablaut pattern e/o originated from an e is
> likewise unprobable because it is highly unlikely that an e becomes
> an o.
>
> The problem can be solved by asuming that the basic wovel was an a.
> This a was then changed to an e in certain cases, to an o in other
> and remained an a in still other, thus creating the ablaut pattern
> e/o (a).

So here's a crazy idea. There is no ablaut, per se. Instead there's
an infixing of /a/ and /o/. Then an early vowel shift occurred which
fronted and raised a to /e/. The few examples of a~o ablaut are relic
areas.

> However, I think that both h1, h2 and h3 existed, because without
> these laryngeals, the IE phonemic system would have only one
> spirant, the s.

There was most likely at least one laryngeal which is reflected in
Armenian and Anatolian. It's also possible that there was a
labialized s. That would bring us up to three.