On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:38:40 +0100, "fournet.arnaud"
<
fournet.arnaud@...> wrote:
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
>>>
>>>*o, being an originally long vowel, is not affected by
>>>laryngeal colouring, just like *e: isn't.
>>>
>>>Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
>>>==============
>I have some questions about your theory.
>
>Starting with *a *i *o *u
>then assuming for example
>stress lengthening,
>we reach your pre-PIE system
>
>*a *a:
>*i *i:
>*o *o:
>*u *u:
That would be:
*a *a:
*i *i:
*u *u:
>Then you suppose
>*a > PIE *e (ok)
**a, **i, **u > *e, under the stress.
Except in morpheme initial and final position:
**-a > *e
**-i > *ye ~ *i
**-u > *we ~ *u
>*a: > PIE *o(:) (pod/ped ?)
>*i: > PIE *e: (Cf. H2i:kwr.)
>*u: > PIE *o(:) (Example ?)
>nukt / nokt "night" ?
**nú:gt- > *nókWt- under the stress; the oblique e.g. Gen.
**nu:gt-ás, should have given *n.kWtés, and *n.kWt- is
attested in Sanskrit and Germanic, but for the most part we
have analogical *nokWtes or *nekWtes.
The most interesting form is Greek núx, nu:któs.
Cowgill's law states that in Greek PIE *o > u between a
labial and a resonant (Examples from Sihler: *nokWts > núx
"night", *bholjom > phúllon "leaf", *molah2 > múle: "mill",
*h3noghWs > ónux "nail", *nogWnos > gúmnos "naked", *morm- >
múrme:x "ant", *h3noh3mn > ónuma "name", *kWetwores >
písures "4"). The formulation as it stands cannot be
correct, or Sihler would not have included it in his chapter
on Phonology (but rather "Phynology"). I believe that in
most of the examples given, Greek /u/ reflects an original
**u:, kept distinct from **a: > *o.
>why should *i and *u not be kept
>as *i and *u ?
>Why should they be lost > zero ?
>On account of what ?
>I would just keep *i and *u unchanged.
Tell that to the Slavs.
In fact, stressed *i and *u are not lost (see above), they
merge with *a (except at the edge of morphemes, and except
for labializing and palatalizing effects on neighbouring
consonants).
Unstressed *i, *u are lost, like unstressed *a.
The only peculiarity is that long *i: and *u: were
apparently also lost in unstressed position, unlike *a:,
which, though shortened, remained and attracted the stress
(Gen. *pa:d-ás > *ped-és > *péd(e)s).
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
miguelc@...