The Prehistory of Indo-European ā-Stems

The ‘laryngeal’ hypothesis poses a problem concerning the Indo-European ā -stem nouns and verbs, for IE ā may result from the loss either of a following x or of a following;. In the present state of our knowledge a decision between the two possibilities can be reached only on the basis of Hittite evidence; IH x appears in Hittite as ḫ , usually written double between vowels, while IH; is lost, or at least not written in Hittite. In the case before us the Hittite evidence makes it necessary to assume IH x in some words and; in others. The Indo-European ā -stems must therefore be divided into two originally distinct classes

Ancient history · Archaeology · Geography · Prehistory · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution