PIE e/o Ablaut

[Patrick C. Ryan]

Dear Rich and IEists:

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard M. Alderson III" <alderson at netcom.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 1:18 AM

> On Fri, 10 Mar 2000, Stanley Friesen (sarima at friesen.net) wrote:

>> This is where I start to have a problem.  As far as I know, NO living
>> language has only one vowel, or at most only one or two such languages
>> exist.

[RA]

> As far as I know, the only two languages ever analyzed as having only one
> vowel, Abaza and Kabardian, have both been shown to have been mis-analyzed,
> and both have two vowels, /a/ and /i-/.  (I believe I have the correct "ASCII
> IPA" for [+ high, -back, -front, +vocalic], i. e. "barred i".)

[PR]

Based on my reading of Greenberg's new book, I would have no problem
accepting a stage of (Pre-)PIE vocalic height alternation that had /a/ [+
low, -back, -front, +vocalic] and /i-/ [+ high, -back, -front, +vocalic],
but eventually resolving to /a/ as in Old Indian.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE at email.msn.com (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th
St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE:
http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/ and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ek,
at ek hekk, vindga meipi, nftr allar nmu, geiri undapr . . . a ~eim meipi er
mangi veit hvers hann af rstum renn." (Havamal 138)