Well, Albanian _is_ a Satem language, since the defining character of Satem is the fronting of the *k^ series, which was consistently carried out in pre-Albanian. BTW, Albanian does _not_ preserve the three dorsal series; the labiovelars were delabialised in pre-Albanian just as they were in the rest of Satem. In most positions *k and *kW have the same Albanian reflex (<k>). It is _possible_ (though the evidence has been questioned) that only the *kW series (but not *k) was palatalised before front vowels, which would mean that the merger of *kW and *k happened rather late there, but there's no doubt that it did take place.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
From: "Danny Wier" <dawier@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 1:17 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] D. Ringe's IE Tree (1998)
> Albanian, which is the only known IE
> language that preserves the five-way stop system and therefore is neither
> strictly satem nor centum, is not anywhere in the charts!