accusative and ergative languages

[petegray]

Pat said:

>... the pattern "e-a-o" *...There was never a time
> during which *any* verb in [e] followed this "pattern", or even *any* verb
> in /eR/ followed it (weNden, waNdte, gewaNdt).

Perhaps I misunderstand you.   This pattern is one of the standard patterns
of strong verbs in modern German, most prevalent among verbs in -eR-, but
not restricted to them, e.g.:

befehlen, befahl, befohlen             to command
bergen, barg, geborgen                to salvage
nehmen, nahm, genommen          to take
sprechen, sprach, gesprochen     to speak
stechen, stach, gestochen             to stick
stehlen, stahl, gestohlen                 to steal
treffen, traf, getroffen                       to meet
verderben, verdarb, verdoben       to spoil
werben, warb, geworben                to recruit
and others

Peter