Re: [tied] Re: Is initial *b really rare?

From: CeiSerith@...
Message: 19309
Date: 2003-02-26

In a message dated 2/26/2003 4:15:41 PM Eastern Standard Time, etherman23@... writes:


Pokorny does list 30 *b- out of 2222, but they seem an unusually
> weak group,with doubtful, poorly attested, and nursery onomatopoiea
> entries. 


   Regarding nursery and echoic words, is it being suggested that these grew up post-PIE and resemble each other for certain reasons, or rather that they actually existed in the PIE period?  If the latter, why would the PIEs have created words with a sound that wasn't in their language already?

David Fickett-Wilbar