>(2) PIE Ins. *-ó:
>The normal
>o-stem ending was *-oh1 (this is based more on faith in the regularity of
>the paradigm and the soundlaws underlying it than on actual evidence, which
>consists of Lithuanian -ù)
This is discussed at length in Beekes, The Development of the Laryngeals in
Greek, 1969. He says that the Lithuanian shows no contraction, unlike the
ablative -e~d < -o:d.
In addition to the Lithuanian, he points to:
(a) Vedic short forms in pausa. He interprets these as the normal reflex
of -VH#, whereas compensatory lengthening occurred only in -VHC. He
compares them with the short forms of the vocative, which is by definition
(and by accent in Vedic) always in pausa.
(b) Greek forms with an acute accent instead of the usual circumflex
(there are several in Homer - but he seems to forget how late the accents
are written)
(c) Doric adverb forms in long -e: beside usual forms in long -o:. He
interprets these as from an instrumental in -eH or -oH.
Apart from that, he relies as you do on paradigmatic likelihood from
other stems.
Peter