Piotr:
> One additional argument in favour of the ancientness
> of compounds with a reduced but accented M1 is the
> vocalism of M2, typical of syllables unaccented
> already in the protolanguage:
>
> *n'-p&2to:r vs. *p&2té:r
> *h1sú-h2no:r (Gk. eué:no:r 'joy of men') vs. *h2ne:r
> *trí-dk^omt- 'thirty'
It also is one additional argument in favour of my
view of chronology.
A form like *n'-ph2to:r can only logically postdate
*ph2te:r, the form on which it's based. However
that form has already undergone Syncope. Ergo,
Syncope must predate the *e/*o alternation evident in
*n'-ph2to:r. This means that while *e/*o alternation
is indeed ancient (aka pre-IE in the loose sense), it
is not as ancient as the event of Syncope.
What this alternation tells us is that there was an
intermediate stage within Late IE (ie the period
following Syncope) whereby stressed *e alternated
with unstressed *&, not zero (as in Stage I,
immediately following Syncope). Unstressed *&
would later become *o (via *a) when it was lengthened
preceding a voiced sound.
= gLeN
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