Re: The meaning of life: PIE. *gWiH3w-

The Loan Ranger rides again.


Patrick

----- Original Message -----
From: "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 3:26 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: The meaning of life: PIE. *gWiH3w-


--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "fournet.arnaud" <fournet.arnaud@...>
wrote:
>
>
>
> PPIE a -> e, o, zero.
> PPIE i -> i:, i:, i -> ei, ei, i -> ei, oi, i
> PPIE u -> u:, u:, u -> ou, ou, u -> eu, ou, u
>
> The last step was made for systematic reasons, not phonological ones
> (and only partially).
> =============
> I nearly agree.
> But PPIE *o is not the same thing as PPIE *a > e, zero.

If PPIE had had other vowels than i, a, u it would not had let a
develop allophones swinging as wildly as to e and o. PIE *o in roots
when not in an ablaut relationship are either from loans or from
decompositions.

> It's also unclear whether zero or °
> is always from *a or from any other vowel.

Not. Zero degree of the two other vowels are *i and *u, not zero.


Torsten