[tied] Re: Hittites and others

Piotr, along with what seems to be the majority of respectable
commentators, place the separation of Anatolian from the rest of IE
quite deeply back in time. This means Anatolian and the rest of IE
each enjoyed long periods of independent development, uninfluenced by
each other.

The horse did not attain its overarching IE importance until after
domestication. The consensus is that the Anatolian branch did not take
part in domestication, but rather, learned about it, and adopted
domestic horses afterwards.

I suspect the situation with the various equids *before* domestication
was rather like the situation with cervids in English: we make do with
one word, 'deer', and add an adjective as needed (e.g., whitetail
deer). Afterwards, a whole suite of distinguishing terms emerge -- but
it's as if these terms developed at or just after breakup.