Re: CV metathesis Q

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:49:36 +0200, Jörg Rhiemeier
<joerg_rhiemeier@...> wrote:
>
>Hallo!
>
>On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:08:36 +0200, Benct Philip Jonsson wrote:
>
>> Jörg Rhiemeier skrev:
>> > Hallo!
>> >
>> > This discussion reminds me of a well-known phenomenon in
>> > Proto-Indo-European: "Schwebeablaut".  Some roots in PIE
>> > show an alternation between the type *CReC- and the type
>> > *CeRC-, e.g. *deiw- ~ *dyew- 'sky, god'.
>> >
>> > ... brought to you by the Weeping Elf
>>
>> Called _samprasarana_ [s@mpr@'sA:r@n`@] 'drawing asunder'
>> in Sanskrit, which perhaps is a more convenient word in
>> English (heck, you already borrowed _svarabhakti_,
>> and _sandhi_...)
To understand an Indoeuropeanist, all one needs is to be completely fluent in
German, Sanskrit, and ancient Greek. Otherwise one may wonder what drawing
asunder has to do with suspended off-sounds.

>It doesn't surprise me at all that the Sanskrit grammarians
>had a word for it.  What regards the putative origins of
>schwebeablaut: it is zero grade on first vs. second syllable
>of an original bisyllabic form *CVRVC-, or so say the
>Indo-Europeanists, according to what I seem to remember
>reading somewhere.
>
>... brought to you by the Weeping Elf
Thanks; this should be helpful, when I get back to that project. I've had to
set it aside until I feel more alert and work on an exolang (where I can try
anything without worrying about it).

Jeff