Re: IE thematic presents and the origin of their thematic vowel

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@...> wrote:

> >> The usual pattern for this kind of verbs is short voweled
> >> i-verb (e.g. skoc^iti, skoc^joN, skoc^itI) vs. long-voweled
> >> a/je-verb (skakati, skac^joN, skac^jetI).
> >
> >So the *-j- comes from the verb stem?
> >
> >When do you think the *-a- ending was added?
>
> The use of *-ah2- as an iterative ending is at least PIE.

Yes, I agree. It seems to be related to the collective (later
feminine stem and neuter plural) affix *-(e)x.

> The lengthening of the root vowel is Balto-Slavic (PIE /o/
> (> /a/) is lengthened to /a:/, not /o:/).

Right. IIRC, /o(:)/ merged with /a(:)/ in Balto-Slavic, with /a/
then becoming /o/ (probably via /A/) and /a:/ remaining such in
Slavic.

So IE *prokéjeti became BS *prakéj(e)ti, then? Did the addition of
the *-ex (> *-a:) ending change the accentuation (i.e. was the
resulting form *prakéja:ti or *prak(e)já:ti)? Also, what caused the
lengthening of the root vowel in Balto-Slavic?

> The accentuation (lengthened a: and e: are circumflex, but i: and
> u: are acute) suggests that it happened before the Slavic soundlaw
> *ei > i: (which creates a circumflex /i:/) and/or before Meillet's
> law (which turns acutes in mobile paradigms into circumflexes).

This is off-topic, but what caused acutes in mobile paradigms to
become circumflexes?

- Rob