Re: Kentum/satem (was: The future of Sturnan)

>===== Original Message From Constructed Languages List
>> What do kentum and satem mean?
>
>"Kentum" and "Satem" both mean "100" (in Latin and Sanskrit, both
>derived from PIE *khmthom. They are used to make a primary division
>of the Indo-European languages into two categories: satem languages
>and kentum languages.
>Originally, this division seemed to correspond with a division into
>north-western (kentum) and south-eastern (satem) languages. But then
>Tocharian was discovered, clearly a kentum language but spoken in a
>north-western region of China, and the whole theory had to be
>modified. The most widely supported theory (the so-called "gulf
>theory" now makes the following distinction:
>- the satem languages constitute the more innovative group, that is
>located more or less in the centre of IE territory;
>- the kentum languages, located at the periphery, broke off earlier
>from the family; they didn't take part in the innovations of the
>satem languages and more or less preserved the original IE phonology.
"Centum" and "Satem" are from PIE *k'mtom  (with a palatal.. we might sampa it
/cm=tom/...)

As far as I understand it...

In the centum languages, the PIE palatals (k' g' g'h) merged with the PIE
velars (k g gh).

In the satem languages, the PIE labiovelars (kw gw gwh) were the ones that
merged with the velars.

I don't think either is more or less 'preserved' or 'innovative'?  Unless I
have misplaced some point.

>My own Hattic language (and its relatives) follows the gulf theory.
>It fills the empty place at the northern periphery, between Tocharian
>and the Germanic languages.
My Kirumb is a satem language (100 = sencon /sENtsON/, I think...not at home
to check) originating in the Middle East, but moving into western/central
Europe as a kind of anti-tocharian.  (Well, by what I just said one might say
it's not exactly satem... k' > /s/, k > /x/, kw > /k/...)


     *Muke!
--
http://www.frath.net/

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