Re: Nostratic (was Re: Schwebeablaut (was Re: tolkien?))

John Cowan wrote:

>Rob Haden scripsit:
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>>Assuming that voiced stops were earlier unvoiced ejective stops?  Or what?
>>
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>Yes, the so-called "glottal theory", which reinterprets the traditional
>voiced-aspirated / voiced / voiceless stops as voiced / voiceless ejective /
>voiceless respectively.  There are two main advantages to this:  1) It
>is typologically more reasonable.  No known language has voiced aspirated
>stops without voiceless aspirated ones.  2) It neatly accounts for the
>rarity of traditional *b, since it is known that labial ejectives are
>less common than non-labial ones.
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>
>
It would make the Germanic b>p g>k, etc. look more reasonable, too.

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