Re: Is initial *b really rare?

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel J. Milton <dmilt1896@...>"
<dmilt1896@...> wrote:

> While waiting for a more expert reply, here's my observation:
> Pokorny does list 30 *b- out of 2222, but they seem an unusually
> weak group,with doubtful, poorly attested, and nursery onomatopoiea
> entries. Cal Watkins' list in the American Heritage Dictionary,
> which just includes roots that have derivatives in English, lists
> two -- *bak "staff" and *bel "strong" -- vs. 35 for *bh-.

The thing that I find interesting is that *bh- seems way too common.
IIRC it's even more common than *p-. For other stops the unvoiced
sound is much more common than the voiced aspirate.

It's often said that the *b is dubious, but not being an expert I
fail to see why.