Re: [tied] Re: PIE Word Formation (1)

>>> stem-final position.
>> English shows it!
>Does English show it? I'm not convinced of that yet. The fact that
>English <ng> fluctuates between [N] and [Ng] is interesting, but I am
>not completely sure as to what caused it.

I read somewhere that it is a fairly recent re-invention. (Piotr? any
ideas?) In any case it may be not so much a "stem-final" phenomenon, as
simply influence from the independent word: sing implies /siN&/ but there
is no *fing, so we get /fiNg&/ (or /fiNg& survives, where siNg& does not in
prestige dialects.) But the case of /lONg&/ versus /lON&/ (someone who
longs) is thought-provoking.

>Also, if English does treat
>the "stem-final" position differently from other positions, we should
>expect to see other phonemes undergo similar alternations.

How about /nUmb&/ versus /nUm&/ (that which makes you numb)? The
independent word numb prevents the pronunciation of the /b/. All right, I
am pushing it a bit - but there's a similarity.

Peter