*-iH_2 [was Re: Domesticating the Horse]

[Patrick C. Ryan]

Dear Rich and IEists:

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard M. Alderson III" <alderson at netcom.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 7:53 PM

> On Wed, 1 Mar 2000, Pat Ryan (proto-language at email.msn.com), following up a
> query about a form in a Stirling post, wrote:

>>>> By the way, Pokorny lists *u.lkwi: for 'female wolf'.  Where do you get
>>>> *ulkwiha?

>> [MCV]
>>> For <ha> read <h2> (or <A>).

>> <PRp>
>> Well, yes, we could *assume* that it is a case of utilizing both
>> formants in combination, but how do we know?

[RA]
> By "both formants", I'm assuming you mean your notion of *y and *H_2 as
> feminine formations.  I won't address that.

[PRp]
>> Could it not equally well be *u.lkwiH1- or *u.lkwiH3-?

>> And why would not *ulkwiH(2)e develop into *u.l/wl.kwia:  ?

> Last question first:  Vowels are only lengthened with the loss of a
> *following* laryngeal, so if the proto-form were ?*ul{k^w}i{H_2}e, the
> outcome would have a short vowel *a, not a long *a:.  However, the suffix
> is *-i{H_2}, with no trailing *-e.

> For the remainder of this post, I am going to write just the numeric portion
> of the TeX constructs {H_1}, {H_2}, and {H_3} to represent the e-, a-, and o-
> coloring laryngeals.  This should make things easier to read without added
> ambiguity.

> The feminine-forming suffix *-i2 is reconstructed based on Skt. -i:, Gk. -ia,
> etc.; Latin has extended the form with an additional suffix, -g-, as in
> _stri:x, stri:gis_.  The Greek outcome is especially interesting, since this
> is one of the few places where the laryngeals do not undergo fully parallel
> developments: We find *i1 > _i:_, *i2 > _ia_, and *i3 > _iO:_.

> This last fact, of course, answers the question of reconstructing ?*ul{k^w}i1
> or ?*ul{k^w}i3:  Were the suffix not *-i2, we would have a different outcome
> in Greek.

[PR]
But *u.lkwi2 has no outcome in Greek, does it?

And the Greek outcomes look like:

-iH1 -> ie: -> i:; -H2 -> ia: -> ia; -iH3  -> -io:

The pattern here is evidence, I believe, for my hypothesis that H1 = e:; H2
= a: H3=o:.

Pat

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