From: Patrick Ryan
Message: 59393
Date: 2008-06-23
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Wordingham" <richard.wordingham@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 8:40 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] English Lack of /a/ (was: The oddness of Gaelic words in
p-)
--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:
> Then what about PIE <a:>? Do you believe it was a lowish central
vowel also?
Remind me, where does it occur? AFAIK Sanskrit /a:/ is a proper low
vowel.
> Why did <a> not survive in PIE?
Pre-PIE /a/ must have fronted (perhaps even raised to [æ]) and then
perhaps got pushed out by new, central /a/ of various origins. Cf.
varieties of English for which '/a/' is untenable as a description of
the vowel of <bad>.
Richard.
***
Patrick:
Richard, speaking of short vowels only, I wonder if you agree with Miguel
and myself in believing that
pre-PIE *Ci/a/u
became
late pre-PIE *CYV, *CV, *CWV
which subsequently became
PIE *CA (where *A is the Ablautvokal: *e / *o / *° / *Ø)
***