--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@...> wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 23:19:48 -0500, Patrick Ryan
> <proto-language@...> wrote:
>
> > PIE is the only language in the world for which 'coloring'
laryngeals have been proposed.
>
> Open any book on, say, Arabic phonology.
I'm not sure what Miguel is talking about (I'd guess
pharyngealisation, where the consonant contrast is principally audible
on the vowels, especialy /a/), but I'm on surer ground with Hebrew.
In Hebrew the 'laryngeals' have an a-coloring effect. A final
non-quiescent laryngeal is preceded by an a-vowel, be it only a
'futive pathah'. It's quite striking that in the imperfective qal,
the final vowel of transitive verbs before final ayin is (usually?)
/a/, whereas /o:/ is more typical of transitive verbs before
non-laryngeal consonants. In segholates, the final, anaptyctic vowel
is generally /a/ before laryngeals, e.g. /zéra`/ 'seed' with final
ayin, /méla.h/ 'salt' with final heth, as opposed to the prototypical
segholate /mélek/ 'king'. (I've omitted the overwhelmingly
predictable fricativisation.) There are gradations in effect with
medial laryngeals, e.g. /bé'er/ 'well' with aleph, /léhem/ 'bread'
with he, but /ná.hal/ 'wadi' with heth, /ná`ar/ 'boy' with ayin.
Except next to front vowels, the non-initial Middle English velar
fricative was o-colouring, whence the spelling -ugh-.
Richard.