Re: Proper methodology (was: RE: [tied] Re: Mother of all IE langua

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003, Glen Gordon wrote:

> At any rate, the Hittite form certainly couldn't be from **swei
> as Miguel invents. It seems to me that the form *usme- has
> been generalized. Whether the /s-/ is the result of fricativisation
> or the result of metathesis, it must surely come from IE *yus
> or *usme- somehow without resorting to new inventions. No?

I would tend to see it the same way. Perhaps *sme- is a case of apheresis
of the form *usmé. Or is it coarticulation in rapid speech as common
precisely with pronouns? I agree it's no serious basis for a form *swe- of
IE date.

Jens