From: alexandru_mg3
Message: 57374
Date: 2008-04-15
>1. How can you know where Celtic and Italic were initially located?
>
> --- mkelkar2003 <swatimkelkar@...> wrote:
>
> > "Wilk suggest that one of the Finno-Ugric substratum
> > features in
> > Indo-European is the generalized initial stress in
> > Germanic (as well
> > as in Latvian (see section 2.3) and in the
> > north-western Russian
> > dialects, known for a number of Finnic-substratum
> > phenomena). This
> > `main event in the split of Proto-Indo-European into
> > Prot-Germanic and
> > the other IE languages' had dramatical consequences
> > within Germanic,
> > known as Verner'law, which was later introduced into
> > Finnic in the
> > form of consonant gradation. Wilk also proposes a
> > few other
> > FU-substratum features in Germanicfor example,
> > umlaut as a reflex
> > vowel harmony. Some of Wilk's suggestions have met
> > with a
> > considerable skepticism and criticism on the part of
> > historical
> > linguistics. The accent shift in Germanic is
> > probably the most
> > plausible candidate for a contact-induced change.
> > Here, Wilk follows
> > Salmons (1992) who suggests a shared Germanic-Celtic
> > accent shift
> > talking (sic) place in prehistoric north-western
> > Europe on the basis
> > of early and profound contact with a Finno-Ugric
> > language. This is
> > based on a vernally accepted view that
> > Proto-Finno-Ugric had an
> > initial stressa view that might be disputed
> > (Viitso, 1997; 224-5).
> > There are also additional considerations that cast
> > some doubt on the
> > Salmons-Wilk suggestion (see Koptjevskaja-Tamm and
> > Walchli, 2001: 640)."
> >
> > Koptjevskaja-Tamm, M. (2006). The circle that won't
> > come full: two
> > potential isoglosses in the circum Baltic area. In
> > linguistic areas:
> > convergence in historical and typological
> > perspective. Matras, Y.,
> > McMahon, A., and Vincent, N. (eds.), pp. 182-226.
> > New York: Palgrave
> > McMillan. ISBN: 1-4039-9657-1
> >
> A problem is that Celtic and (early) Italic had
> initial stress as well and they were nowhere near
> Finno-Urgric
>