Me:
> I'm convinced now that the original pronunciation
> of *h3 was still /hW/. I can see how /hW/ can be
> then later voiced to /H/ (IPA hooked-h) in much the
> same way as English "wh" has been voiced in dialects
> like my own.
Torsten wisecracks:
> GWot?
Sometimes when I have excess phlegm after my morning
coffee.
Seriously, I was suggesting more like /hW/ > voiced
/HW/ > dephonemic /(W)/. This is similar to the
development of "what" to /w^?/ since we also get
voicing and a loss of aspiration, however it's
different because there was never a distinction
between /hw/ and /hW/ in English. That difference
would explain the loss of *h3 in IE without it
ever becoming the 'heavier' *w sound.
I believe you might be confused with the idea of some
that *h3 was an ayin. (Damn those lingering
IndoSemiticists!) I don't believe this was the case
but I can concede that this was *almost* the case by
proposing an intermediary of /HW/, voiced labialized
"h".
In this way, we see that in *piph3eti, we can get:
/piphWeti/ (original pronunciation)
/pipHWeti/ (voicing)
/pibHWeti/ (assimilation)
/pib(W)eti/ (deaspiration/dephonemicization)
See? So in that way, the idea that *h3 is /hW/ on
the one hand but voiced and ayin-like on the other
are not really mutually-exclusive solutions.
= gLeN
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs