PIE e/o Ablaut

[Stanley Friesen]

At 10:42 PM 4/9/00 -0500, proto-language wrote:
>Dear Jens and IEists:
>[PR]

>To clarify what my understanding, wrong though it may be, of the purported
>change from *e to *o is, I will quote Lehmann's description of the alleged
>phenomenon, from page 110 of _Proto-Indo-European Phonology_, which I
>support with some reservations:

>"After various studies the conditions of change have been defined: /e'/
>/e':/ [e' e': a' a':], with phonemic pitch accent, became [o' o':] when the
>chief accent was shifted to another syllable, and the syllable accented
>formerly received a secondary pitch accent."

Yes, this is one suggested explanation, one I find less than convincing, as
I find few, if any, well-attested examples of this sort of sound change.

However, even *assuming* it is the correct model, it still leaves the e/o
distinction phonemic in PIE!  Lehmann here is discussing the *loss* of a
conditioning factor as the basis for the sound change.  That is the very
definition of a phonemic split, similar to the s/z and th/dh splits in English.

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima at ix.netcom.com