Lax An: Difference between revisions

*PIE had a large number of [[stop consonant|stop]]s, but few [[fricative]]s.  The traditional (pre-laryngeal) reconstruction included only one fricative, {{PIE|*s}}; however, the modern theory includes three additional fricatives, commonly known as [[laryngeal theory|laryngeals]] and assumed to have been pronounced far back in the mouth (i.e. [[Fricative consonant#Central non-sibilant fricatives|velar]], [[uvular fricative|uvular]]{{disambiguation needed|date=March 2013}}, [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] and/or [[glottal fricative|glottal]]{{disambiguation needed|date=March 2013}}).  Laryngeals disappeared from all PIE languages except (to some extent) the [[Anatolian language]]s, but reveal themselves in their effects on nearby sounds.  For example, short {{PIE|*e}} adjacent to {{PIE|*h₂}} and {{PIE|*h₃}} is colored to {{PIE|*a}} and {{PIE|*o}}, respectively, and short vowels preceding a laryngeal are usually lengthened. The exact [[Laryngeal theory#Pronunciation|pronunciation of the laryngeals]] is disputed; some linguists have even asserted that {{PIE|*h₁}} might not have been a fricative at all, but a [[glottal stop]].

{| class="wikitable IPA"