Re: [tied] Internal reconstruction and PIE

From: erobert52@...
Message: 8620
Date: 2001-08-19

In a message dated 16/08/01 18:29:42 GMT Daylight Time,
glengordon01@... writes:

> Looking *only* at IndoEuropean, we can conclude some basic features
> for previous stages of IE, and these features involve the following
> areas:
>
>    Areal influence & contacts:
>    ---------------------------
>     - Early Semitic/Semitic-like loans
>     - Early preNWC loans
>
>   Phonology & stress
>   ------------------
>     - Penultimate-to-mobile accent shift caused by
>       loss of all final vowels
>     - Centralized two-vowel system (*& and *a)
>     - Fortis stop series (*t:/*k:)
>     - Allophonic uvularisation of velars and laryngeals
>       (This concerns later satemisation)
>
>   Morphology
>   ----------
>     - Agglutination
>     - Paradigmatic allophony of unstressed *e and stressed *a
>     - Vowel harmony origins of active-stative ablaut
>
> So, do you want me to explain one of the above points, Ed?

More please on:

i)  Early preNWC loans. Do these affect your numeric system?
   Are there any loans for a similar period (or any) from
   Pre-Hurrian/Nakh/Daghestanian? If not, why not?

ii) Chronology of penultimate-to-mobile accent shift caused
   by loss of all final vowels.

iii) More on collapse of agglutination, esp. chronology.

> >Core vocabulary in Etruscan is not IE. Explain the numbers, and
> >numerical morphology, for instance.
>
> In EtruscoLemnian, only numbers "one" to "five", and "nine",
> have IndoTyrrhenian etymologies. The numerals /s'a/ "six", /semph/
> "seven", /s'ar/ "ten" and the /-thrum/ in /zathrum/ "20" are of
> Semitoid origin. The word /cezp/ "eight" (ELem *k:isappi) is a
> compound meaning "three from (five)" (cf. /ci/ "three").
> ...
>          *t:Wei, *t:We- "two"
>               OIE *t:Wei, *t:Wa- (IE *dwo-, *dwo:u)
>               ELem *ce- (Etr /zal/ "two", /zathrum/ "twenty")
> ...
>          *mek:xe "to be large"
>               OIE *mek:xe (IE *meg^x-)
>               ELem *meke "five" (Etr /mach/)
>                    *moxale-kon "fifty" (Etr /muvalch/)

Please explain "two" with other examples of these sound
changes, also breakdown of /*k:isappi/, and can you give
any cases of semantic shift in other languages that might
be similar to the change of meanings from "large" to "five"?

You have not explained any related numerical morphology
here. As you know I find parallels in numerical morphology
between Etruscan and Hurrian and Nakh. Can you persuade me
that /-alch/ is IE?


Ed. Robertson