Re: [tied] Re: A New language tree

----- Original Message -----

From: mkelkar2003

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2005 6:12 PM

Subject: [tied] Re: A New language tree

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@......>
wrote:

>
>   If it makes Mr. Kelkar feel better, the vowels probably bit the
dust when a darker-skinned people (Afro-Asians) imposed their language
on lighter-skinned people (Caucasians), who had a very limited vowel
repertoire. One of these peoples characterized Caucasians (su-bar:
skin-white) as 'swine' and 'servants' with the same word.
>
>   After the Caucasians learned Afro-Asiatic and mangled it, they
headed out of Dodge for the steppes of Russia and later back into
Anatolia, and west into Europe.




>   Patrick
>  

And also into Pakistan/India where it was the darkys' turn to return
the favor by absorbing a degraded version, and then upgrading it to
the Sanskritic system which, if I understand the following comment
correctly, is more like the pre-PIE version. 

"Curiously enough, many believe that the PIE vowel system itself
derives from one very similar to the Sanskrit system."

M. Kelkar

***
Patrick writes:

 

I do not know why you insist on characterizing Sanskrit as "upgraded".

 

The Sanskrit with which I am familiar has one vowel, /a/, with a long variant /a:/.

 

It is nothing like the pre-PIE stage which had three contrasting vowels: front, central, and back.

 

Sanskrit /e:/ is the product of diphthong reduction, as is /o:/.

 

/i/ and /u/ are avocalic versions of /j/ and /w/.

 

The quotation you have included should be interpreted correctly to mean that PIE went through a stage in which glides replaced vowel quality as a way of distinguishing roots, and one vowel, with a possible variant of length, but probably no semantic difference, was all they both had for a while.

 

The palatalization of certain sounds in Sanskrit shows it went through the same stage but then all glides were lost in PIE and Sanskrit, leaving Sanskrit somewhat to the advantage with /c/ and /š/ while kentum-PIE lost this advantage also.

 

 

Patrick

***

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