Re: [tied] *bhe-, -y, -w

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...>
wrote:

> tgpedersen wrote:
>
> > Schmalstieg proposes to analyse the "be" verb as *bhe/o-, plus

two

> > extensions -y and -w. He does the same with "drink": *pe/o + -y,
> > + -w.
>
> Yes, the last Mohican of the anti-laryngeal camp. William

Schmalstieg's

> pet idea is that selected "laryngeal effects" can be mimicked by
> assuming original diphthongs plus a number of rules to handle them
> (including monophthongisations such as *ow > o:, etc.), allegedly

making

> the laryngeals superfluous. That of course doesn't work, since the
> laryngeals do a number of other things apart from causing

colouration

> and compensatory lengthening.
>

I didn't even know that; he doesn't advertise it strongly in 'The
historical morphology of the Baltic verb'. That doesn't change his
point: to accomodate all forms of the "be; habitate" verb you need
something that turns into -i (OHG pim, pist, Latin fio:) and -u. I
merely pointed out that same variation occurs in the corresponding
AfroAsiatic root.


Torsten