Re: lacruma etc (was: Y not?)

Ray Brown <ray.brown@...> wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 25, 2005, at 10:48 , Muke Tever wrote:
>>                               Sihler suggests it was a schwa,
>> which might sensibly assimilate to a 'u' spelling with a following
>> labial.  I kind of agree -- given that, to me, half an H is a perfectly
>> sensible way of spelling it (especially given what the Greeks used it
>> for).
>
> At the time of Claudius the Greek H was pronounced [e:], which is IMO not
> much like [@]. I think the Claudian letter was simply I with small
> horizontal bar added to show the modification of the vowel.
I meant the earlier development, where Greek H was split into smooth
breathing and the rough breathing [h], which latter is what I was
thinking of.  It is at least precedent for splitting an H to represent
a special and perhaps less-substantial sound (whether Claudius knew
about the breathings' origin or not).


	*Muke!
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