Re: Sanskrit "hrd" and "hanu"

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

>
>
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette
> > <anjarrette@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Does anyone know the reason why Sanskrit has <h->
> > in <hrd> "heart"
>
> > > Similarly, why does <hanu> "jaw" have <h->
>
> --- etherman23 <etherman23@...> wrote:
>
> > The second can easily be explained by reconstructing
> > the root as
> > *g^h1enu. In all languages except IIr. the laryngeal
> > is lost. In IIr.
> > it's lost as well, but with aspiration of the
> > preceding stop.
>
> There are words with *gYnu-, etc., such as Greek gnúx 'on the knee'
> and *kYniu- > knee. If there were a xY (h1) in the word why wouldn't
> it appear as e or a?

Okay, maybe it's not as easy as I first thought :)

I see two other possibilities. The first, I'm sure will not meet with
approval.

1) Laryngeals don't vocalize. This means that PIE schwa is not a
reflex of the laryngeals. The triple representation of schwa in Greek
is just an analogical extension of zero-grade to full grade.

2) The laryngeal is in the wrong place. The correct reconstruction is
*g'enh1 or *g'enh2 and the aspiration is the result of the action of H
at a distance. I'm not sure how well this jibes with the other data.