Re: The meaning of life: PIE. *gWiH3w-

> Extra evidence: besides consonant stems, PIE has -i, -u and thematic
> stems, ie (the latter) stems ending in the thematic vowel. If PPIE
> was a three-vowel language (i, a, u), we'd have a perfect match.
>
> ***
>
> Well, let us take this a step at a time.
>
> You are saying PPIE had three vowels, which I interpret to mean that
> roots had three basic forms: *CiC, *CaC, and *Cuc.
>
> Your Ablautvokal in PIE derives from PPIE *a.
>
> What happened to *CiC and *CuC?

PPIE a -> e, o, zero.
PPIE i -> i:, i:, i -> ei, ei, i -> ei, oi, i
PPIE u -> u:, u:, u -> ou, ou, u -> eu, ou, u

The last step was made for systematic reasons, not phonological ones
(and only partially).

Part of this is from Miguel's lectures (in the archives), but he
posits long PPIE vowels here, the short ones are use to generate k,
k^, kW etc (and even corresponding non-velars). The idea that the
development was the phonologically plausible i: -> ei, u: -> ou
followed by non-phonological Systemzwang (especially in the supposedly
Semitic-influenced Germanic) is my own, I believe.


Torsten