Re: Five questions about H. Rix et al.'s _LIV_

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "G&P" <G.and.P@...> wrote:

> 5) It doesn't matter how many "laws", that is to say, phonetic processes,
> are involved in getting from a hypothetical PIE form to the attested forms.
> All that matters is whether these processes can be supported clearly from
> (a) evidence and (b) what we know of common phonetic change.

The point here is that if there are too many chanɡes, the evidence won't be able to support them well. However, I get the feeling (I can't quantify it), that a large set of convincing cognates can support a great many phonetic 'laws'.

Richard.