Re: [tied] Illyrian as satem

On Sat, 24 May 2003 16:03:23 +0100, P&G <petegray@...>
wrote:

>> It is a wide discution if the Latin diphtong /ae/ was pronounced in fact
>> /ai/ or not.
>No it's not. We know the final vowel was lowered around the 2nd century BC.
>> Which are in fact the arguments the Latin /ae/ was /ae/ and not /ai/?
>
>- changes in spelling in inscriptions
>- Descriptions by grammarians, e.g. Quintilian
>- Terentius Scaurus specifically comments on the end point of the diphthong
>being (in his time) -e not -i.

It probably went from /ai/ through a stage /aI/ (as in English) > /ae/
(and then > /E:/). The same happened somewhat later with all Latin
short /i/'s (/i/ > /I/ > /e/).

=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...