On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:52:24 -0600, "Patrick Ryan"
<
proto-language@...> wrote:
>But, still, was *ü in the original PU vowel inventory?
>
>The reason I ask is because I am, what you might call, a Noahist who
>believes that all languages descend from a common source.
>
>I can easily see a PU vowel scheme of *i, *a, *u, or *e, *a, *o, or even *i,
>*e, *a, *u, *o but it is difficult for me to see how *ü would fit into any
>of the schemes above.
The PU first-syllable vowel scheme in Pekka Sammallahti's
system is:
u ï ü i
o e
a ä
In non-initial syllables, there are only:
ï i
a ä
An interesting proposal by Tálos and Abondolo drops the
mid-height vowels /o/ and /e/ in favour of a system with
distinctive length. Unfortunately, Abondolo does not give a
full account in the preface to "The Uralic Languages",
merely a brief sketch and a couple of examples (UEW =
Uralisches etym. Wört.):
nest water dwelling long urine
UEW *pesä *wete *kota *ko(n')c'V *ku(n')c'e
Samm. *pesä *weti *kota *kuns'ï
T&A *pääsä *witi *kaata *kun't'ï *kuun't'ï
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
miguelc@...