Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 96. kötet (1998-1999)

Tanulmányok - Dezső László: Typological Comparison of Root Structuring in Uralic and Early Indo-European. [Az uráli és korai indoeurópai tőstruktúrák tipológiai összevetése] 3

Typological Comparison of Root Structuring in Uralic and Early Indo-European 27 ants of velar stops, laryngeals and the sibilant s (cf. Gamkrelidze - Ivanov 1984: 85-99, 214). Thus, the impact of laryngeals on vowels could have been preceded by an influence of vowels on consonants, but this could not be a simple recompensatory process (like H + о > H° and H° + V > Ho), because the whole system of Indo-European had previously changed. The effect of front vowels on stops could not have been so strong in Indo-European that the quality of consonants should have changed (e.g. t + e > c); it did not even lead to phonemic oppositions like n ~ n, I ~ /' or s ~ s as in Uralic. 3.2.3. Vowels in Different Root and Base Structures In PrelE there were basic morpheme structures: C°iV-, VC°- and C°iVC°2

. When dealing with the vowel system and with the influence of consonants on vowels, we did not make distinctions between different structures, and disregarded the earliest stage of apophony, now we should focus on these characteristics of early PrelE. In the prelanguages among the earliest etymons were roots with vowels not participating in apophony; in other roots apophony was active, but was not complete (Gamkrelidze-Ivanov 1984: 140-1). The root structures CCVC and CVCC did not exist at the early stage, they were formed later as derived structures, but became etymologically not analyzable, like the CVCCV structures in Uralic (cf. 5. on CVCCV structuring in Uralic). The root structure VC° (realized as VC and VS) is represented in the most important primary verbs as *es- 'to be', *et' 'to eat' etc., which had no ablaut versions at the early stage and had an initial e (Gamkrelidze-Ivanov 1984: 246-7). The structure C°V- can appear in roots with final -/ and -u which were not subject to ablaut: *t'i- and dl"lu- and in verbal suffixes like *Ha; to them the pronominal roots and some particles should be added (Gamkrelidze - Ivanov 1984:218,245). Thus, the primary vowel system of Pre-Indo-European, which was not subject to ablaut, consisted of e, a, i, u. The vowel e had particular importance among the vowels in these structures and in the ones already participating in ablaut at the early stage (CeC and CC-eC). Such structures included not only roots but also bases. From the point of view of general phonology an e phoneme has an ample variety of phonetic realizations, which can become separate phonemes. In Proto-Uralic among the normal, stressed phonemes there is a front middle e, a front low ä and a middle-back e (the phonemic status of which is not clear) according to Rédei's version; instead of e an j; is reconstructed according to Sammalahti's variant. In unstressed position there is ä and an e; the latter can participate in both front and back harmony, thus, stands for front and back e in