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

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Rob" <magwich78@...> wrote:

> However, it seems to me that [e:] could develop into [a:]
> through a process of becoming increasingly open: [e:] > [E:] >

[&:] >

> [a:]. This is close to being a reverse of what happened to Attic-
> Ionic Greek /a:/.

Sure - both can happen. Some languages have changed /e:/ into a
closer vowel, others have changed it into a more open one. Some have
changed /o:/ into a closer vowel, others have rather opened it. The
changes of articulatory fashion are unpredictable.

>
> I'm sorry, I must not have explained myself sufficiently. What

I'm

> asking is, why does *mégx have one affix and *bhérx another?

It would mean that *bhér- is a root noun, while *még^-H2 is a
suffixed stem consisting of root *meg^- and suffix *-eH2-/-H2-.
There is no reason they should be of parallel make.

Jens