Re: [tied] PIE Stop System

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003, P&G wrote:

> I have been doing a little more hunting on voiceless aspirates.
> There are only 4 that are supported by both Greek and Skt, one of those a
> Lall-word.
> There are a couple supported by Armenian and one other language, but I do
> not think we can say an Armenian aspirate (or initial #sx-) "proves" the
> original PIE was an aspirate.
> There are some other suggested roots with voiceless aspirates, for which
> the
> aspiration is supported only by one language.
>
> Is this really "ample" evidence, which "demands" the reconstruction of
> voiceless aspirates?

Oh yes, that's more than the basis of a phonemic opposition between /gWh/
and /g^hw/. Your lists also show that you get more if you accept
aspiration on the basis of evidence from one of the aspirating languages
and combine it with the tenuis presented by some non-aspirating language.
There seems to be a staunch tradition to disregard this part of the
evidence, I guess because it spoils the fun.

Jens