/hw-/ > /w-/ again

[Richard M. Alderson III]

Larry writes:
 
>I have occasionally seen it suggested that PIE might actually have had a
>contrast between a /kw/ cluster and a labialized velar. (Anybody know if this
>idea is still taken seriously?)
 
Why should it not be taken seriously?  There are different developments in the
descendant dialects, after all.  To take one example, were there no contrast
between *k{^w} and *kw (if you will allow TeX-style notation for superscripts),
we would expect the word for _horse_ to appear as Skt. **aca, Attic/Ionic
**epos/**ipos, rather than the attested Skt. as^va, Attic (h)ippos, Ionic
(h)ikkos.
 
Other unexceptionable examples exist.
 
Rich Alderson