[Re: [Re: [Re: Roll Your Own IE language]]]

Brian Betty <bbetty@...> wrote:
> Danny wrote: "A 'no-vowel' theory?  Interesting... and actually possibl=
e,
> if the H-phonemes could be mapped to vowels.  This is my theory number =
two,
> but I'm a bit more liberal and account four laryngeals, primarily becau=
se
> of the schwa.  Of course 'syllabic' /j/ and /w/ would be /i/ and /u/, a=
nd
> the other consonants become syllabic nasals/liquids."
> =
> There are languages in the world that have no underlying vowels, but PI=
E
> seems to have underlying e and o, and possibly a (that is in great disp=
ute
> - there is actually a book entitled "The Indo-European /a/"). Said
> vowel-less languages are mostly in New Guinea.
Lehmann supports a vowelless stage for PIE, or rather a stage at which vo=
wel
quality distinctions were not made.  According to him the e/o distinction=
 was
a secondary development.  I'm not sure I entirely understand the explanat=
ion,
but here's the best I can do without copying it out of the book:

At the earliest stage, there were no "vowels" as segments; rather there w=
as a
suprasegmental phonemic element which he calls "syllabicity" which result=
ed in
the vowel called "e" appearing at a certain point in the word.  This was
during a period of stress-accent.

Later, during a period of pitch-accent, the accent often moved.  When it =
moved
away from an "e", that "e" changed to "o".  This is the origin of the e/o=

alternation.

Long vowels are compensatory lengthenings when a phoneme was lost after a=

vowel, e.g. "*p@te:r" < "*p@ters".

All vowels except e and o arose from resonants used as syllable nuclei (y=
, w,
r, l, n, m), or through coloring an existing vowel which was followed by =
a
laryngeal (which may have been h, x, Q, or ? where Q=3Dvoiced velar frica=
tive).

Ed



---------------------------------------------------------
Edward Heil .......................... edwardheil@usa.net
---------------------------------------------------------

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