I was reluctant to bring in Mycenaean,
since the *absence* of laryngeals in that type of rough syllabic script might be
difficult to prove. One could argue that what we interpret as a- could really be
xa- or the like. Of course there is enough indirect evidence to rule out the
possibility that "laryngeals" (other than h < *s in non-psilotic dialects)
existed in historical Greek.
There are various theories about the date
when the Greek writing system was imported; some argue it was before 1100 BC,
but there is no material evidence to support such claims. The earliest dated
inscriptions come from the early 8th c. BC, and it doesn't seem likely that the
alphabet could have existed for 300 years or longer in thoroughly investigated
places like Cyprus, Crete or Euboea without leaving any surviving traces in the
archaeological record. After 800 BC the use of the alphabet spread like a
bushfire among the Greeks and their neighbours.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Greek laryngeals
We might be able to argue for hints that the laryngeals still
survived in the earliest Greek we can reconstruct, but the alphabet was not
adopted until very much later. (Details not readily at hand - my
impression is that it's well after 1000 BC). At the time when the alphabet
is imported, the laryngeals would alas have long gone - we see no sign of their
continued existence in Mycenean, some hundred of years
earlier.