Re: ka and k^a [was: [tied] *kW- "?"] and the origin of IE thematic

Grzegorz:

> I also reject the idea that they were pharyngeal
> because I think that, from them, only g was
> pharyngeal [...]

Me:

> Based on what per se?

Grzegorz:

> Based on glottalic consonants in Sindhi, the
> glottalic articulation of the vowel before mediae
> in Latvian, Winter's rule in Balto-Slavic, [...]

Wait, are you mixing 'pharyngeal' with 'glottalic'?
There is the Glottalic Theory. Is this what you're
speaking of?


On the non-existence of a vowel system without an
"a"-sound (ie: low vowel), Grzegorz shows examples:

> 1) The Late Common Slavic vowel system had no a's.

I really think you don't understand what I'm saying
at all. The front-back dimension is irrelevant. All
we are talking about here is the vertical "high-low"
dimension. That latter dimension **always** exists
in any language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Slavic

See how they list the vowels? You're wrong.

> The British English system has not either (neither
> front /æ/, central /^/ nor back /O/ are low
> vowels, [...]

*Which* "British English"?? So far this statement
is meaningless.

> 2) IE /e/ may have been /æ/ [...]

Now you're supporting your theory with more theory.
Illogical. If this were so its long counterpart *e:
would also have to raise. This violates the tendencies
seen in world vowel systems and weakens your version
of the IE theory.

> Why do you think that we have empty look-alikes
> here?

As I said, this is more logically economical than
claiming that it remained for 10,000 years in the
language. If you don't respect logical economy, your
methodology is in serious doubt.

> And abstaining from any external comparisons is not
> more logically economical but unnecessarily
> restricting mind rather.

Then if you want to "open your mind" to every idea
without methodological standards, you should become an
artist, not a linguist.

> If a word is six thousand years old, why couldn't
> it be 10 thousand years old?

You're confusing probability with possibility yet
again. How irritating.


= gLeN


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