From: Rob
Message: 44118
Date: 2006-04-04
>My own reconstruction includes the low central vowel /a/ along with
> > I can't see PIE having less than 3 vowels. Even then 4 makes more
> > sense.
>
> However many vowels you give it, it is extremely odd as a language,
> in that it seems to use only e (or o in relatively predictable
> situations) for full grade stems.
>
> > IMO, *ei and *eu are the result of stressing *i and *u,
>
> Now there's a wonderful idea! Pre-PIE had the vowels **i, u, r, l,
> m, n, but speakers did what we know has happened several times, at
> least in Germanic:
> /i/ > /&i/, /u/ > /&u/
> You can hear this change today both in Birmingham, UK, and in
> Bavaria, Germany, and it underlies the English Great Vowel Shift.
>
> However the system **i, u, r, l, m, n is itself odd - there should
> be a low mid or low front vowel in there.