Re: Origin of Thematic Neuter -om (was: 1sg. -o:)

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

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, glen gordon <glengordon01@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Fully voiced is close to nasal, isn't it?
> >
> > If you mean that full-voiced /b/ is one step away
> > from /mb/, yes. This has to do with voicing onset.
> > If the voicing onset starts to *precede* the stop,
> > a nasal corresponding to the stop starts to
> > crystalize. So a full-voiced /d/ could theoretically
> > go to /nd/.
>
> /mb/, /nd/, /ng/ is frequent in languages of Africa (Mbeki, Nkruma
> etc.).
> Have nostraticists and other extra-IE linguists considered this as a
> feasable link to IE aspirated stops in other language groups?

In much of New Guinea pre-nasalising stops is functionally equivalent
to voicing them. In New Guinea Pidgin English ('Neo-Melanesian') some
accents used voiced stops, other pre-nasalised stops, and in the
Austronesian family there are examples of Proto-Oceanic voiced stops
becoming pre-nasalised in the modern languages.

Richard.