PIE

[petegray]

> are there any books that teach the best-we-can-at-this-time-construct PIE?
> Is there some authoritative book(s), which would help me understand PIE and
> consequently the development of the IE languages as seen today?

[Oh Moderator:  this is to add to your collection]

O J L Szemerenyi "Introduction to Indo-Euorepan Linguistics"  OUP 4th
edition 1990
    Despite its very conservative phonology, it is an essential book, since
it gives all the evidence and most of the theories, even when it disagrees
with the modern consensus.  I don't think one can study PIE without it.

P Baldi "An introduction to the Indo-European Languages"  Southern Illinois
University  1983
   A rather more light-weight book, but a good introduction with some
information about later developments of, and within, each dialect group.

Rami & Rami "The Indo-European Languages"  (Routledge)
   Overpriced, but excellent.  A brief intorduction to PIE, then a very good
discussion of each of the dialect groups, and how it got to be what it is.

W P Lehmann "Theoretical Bases of Indo-European Linguistics"  (Routledge
1993).
   Rather more than an introduction, but good for post-beginners, laying out
some of the divergent ideas, and attempting to look under the surface.

R S P Beekes  "Comparative Indo-European Linguistics"  (Benjamins 1995)
   A laryngeal-friendly Szemerenyi, but without his incisive depth.  Still a
good one to have.

Peter