On new reconstructions of PIE “laryngeals”,
especially as uvular stops
DOI:10.30842/alp23065737181199215
Kümmel Martin Joachim. On new
reconstructions of PIE “laryngeals”, especially as uvular stops.
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2022. 18(1):
199–215.
More than hundred years after the partial confirmation of the
laryngeal theory by the Hittite evidence this aspect of the
phonological reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European has remained one
of the most controversial ones. While there is widespread agreement
about the reconstruction of three “laryngeals”, their phonological
interpretation is less clear. Recently, two radically different new
interpretations have been proposed: 1) a reconstruction of just one
“glottal fricative” (corresponding to *h₂) by Pyysalo [2013] with
sharp critique of most assumptions of the received theory, and 2) a
reinterpretation of *h₂ and *h₃ as uvular stops by Kloekhorst
[2018], mainly based on their continuation as velar stops in Lycian
and Carian. While the former proposal suffers from severe
methodological weaknesses and is therefore not further discussed
here, the latter seems more promising, as it is based on the usual
methodology of comparative reconstruction applied to the actual
evidence of Anatolian. After reviewing the most crucial general
evidence for the reconstruction of “laryngeals”, especially cases
of preserved consonants (including hitherto rarely considered
evidence from Iranic), the arguments for uvular stops are
discussed. Some problematic phonetic details of Kloekhorst's
proposal are criticized, with the result that a reinterpretation
according to this critique may even strengthen the general idea of
uvular stops. Especially the assumption of *h₃ being a labialized
fortis is rejected, instead it is argued that the evidence points
to a non-labialized lenis obstruent, thus introducing a distinction
typical for stops within the IE system. At the end, remaining
problems are discussed, and an alternative scenario for the
Anatolian development is mentioned (though not extensively
discussed). The conclusion is that uvular stops might indeed be the
original value of PIE *h₂ and *h₃ but they might have become uvular
fricatives already in PIE, or in late Proto-Anatolian, and the stop
reflexes of younger Anatolian languages could also be secondary,
independent of the original status of the PIE sounds.
Keywords
Анатолийские языки, иранские языки,
праиндоевропейский, фонологическая реконструкция, фонологическая
типология, ларингальные, фрикативные, увулярные, смычные
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Keywords
Анатолийские языки, иранские языки,
праиндоевропейский, фонологическая реконструкция, фонологическая
типология, ларингальные, фрикативные, увулярные, смычные