From: Arnaud Fournet
Message: 61171
Date: 2008-11-01
----- Original Message -----
From: "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
>
> Is an alternation series PIE *-we-/-wo-/-u- (it does exist, unlike PIE
> *-ye-/-yo-/-i- AFAIK) at all plausible from a phonological standpoint,
> or in other words, what are the steps (without invoking analogy
> leveling) that could lead to such a series ?
>
> Torsten
>
=============
What about *d-yew- becoming d-iu-rnus in Latin ?
Is it not ye = i ?
Your question about PIE *-we-/-wo-/-u- is interesting.
You can have two starting points :
1. vowel *u
2. consonant *w
We have been discussing how *k^u-H2on became *k^won.
I think the answer to your question is in Saussure's Mémoire.
PIE *-we-/-wo-/-u- is to what
PIE *-re-/-ro-/-r.- is to
PIE *-le-/-lo-/-l.-
PIE *-ne-/-no-/-n.-
In others words, vowel u is a kind of w. (consonant with a dot beneath).
a "kind of", because this entails a confusion between phonology and
morphology.
This functioning can only have happened _after_ unstressed vowels were
completely muted out in pre-PIE.
Arnaud