Re: Fournet on PIE Morphology and Root Structure (was: S mobile)

From: Roger Mills
Message: 53716
Date: 2008-02-19

Torsten wrote :

> I've seen a reconstruction like PAN duSa "two". Would that now be
PAN *duha?

(in reply to my--)

> The so-called AN "Laryngeals" (I. Dyen's term, actually) were at that
> time rather ill-defined and mysterious, based mainly on poorly known
> Taiwanese languages where the reflexes seemed to be very mixed; with
> improved data from Taiwan over the years, they're now assumed with
> pretty good reason to have been ... 2. *h (then written *S, > /h/ in
> Phil., mostly lost
> everywhere else)....

No, *duSa is correct. I was somewhat in error, and *S is indeed still used
for _PAN_ forms (with witnesses in Taiwan languages, where *S often has
sibilant reflexes), but *h is (or at least can be) used in Proto
Malayo-Polynesian (the first and largest branch and I daresay best known,
but lacking Taiwanese witnesses). Since PMP *h can derive only < PAN *S,
sometimes we slip up.........