Re[2]: [tied] PIE *a -- a preliminary checklist

At 10:52:53 PM on Wednesday, February 13, 2008,
fournet.arnaud wrote:

>> That's interesting to hear --a few years back when I
>> asked whether or not Gmc glottal stop was a relic of
>> laryngeals, everyone told me no English, of course, still
>> has glottal stops e.g. an apple /?aen ?aepL/

> I think the difference is glottal stop was a phoneme in
> proto-Germanic

Evidence?

> in English, the presence of a little glottalic attack at
> the beginning of the word is automatic.

Everyday observation shows that it isn't.

> Now do you think bu?er for butter is part of the language?
> If yes, then it's phonemic in English too.

Is it? Or is it just an allophone of /t/?

Brian