Re: [tied] Renfrew's theory renamed as Vasco-Caucasian

Your example is totally unacceptable.

this word is a two-syllable word : *ku-H2on

as is well attested in LAtin *kH2n-i > canis

and Chinese loanword :

Modern Pekinese quan3 and H2 must be either glottal or velar

to have third tone.

Chinese loanwords from PIE are not unfrequent :

another one is *mjit "honey" > mi4

And Berber also has two-syllable reflex for *ku-H2on.

In the case of "dog", kw is consonantic interpretation of k+u.

What better examples can you propose ?

----- Original Message -----

From: Piotr Gasiorowski

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 7:10 PM

Subject: Re: [tied] Renfrew's theory renamed as Vasco-Caucasian

fournet.arnaud wrote:

> Apart from supposedly Hek-w-os "horse",
> what are the other instances of this *k-w cluster ?
> Are there examples of *k-w cluster at the beginning of a word ?

Of course. The best-known example is *k^won- 'dog'. Note that the
prevocalic nil grade is *k^un-, showing the bisegmental composition of
the onset. There are also word-initial *Cw- onsets involving other
phonations, e.g. *g^Hwer- 'wild animal'.

Piotr