1. The vowel grade or Ablaut is normally the alternation between full, zero or lengthened grade vocalism. The different vowel grades are an important feature of the Europaio verbal system, and they usually alternate in nouns depending on the endings.
NOTE. Ablaut comes from German Abstufung der Laute, vowel alternation.
2. Some examples of vowel grades possible in Europaio are the following:
|
|
Full (F) |
Zero (Ø) |
Lengthened (L) |
|
e/o - Ø - e/o |
ped, dem |
pd, dm |
ped, dem |
|
ie/o - i - ie/o |
djeus |
diw-/dju- |
dje- |
|
ue/o - u - ue/o |
kwon |
kun- |
kwon |
|
e/oi - u/i - e/oi |
bheid |
bhid |
bheid |
|
e/ou - u/i - e/ou |
bheud, ous |
bhud, us |
bheud, ous |
|
e/a/o - a - e/a/o |
bhle, bha, oku |
bhla, bha, aku |
bhle, bha, oku |
|
au/ai - u/i - au/ai |
bhau, aik |
bhu (bhəu), ik (əik) |
bhau, aik |
|
e/oi - u/i - e/oi |
po(i) |
pi |
poi |
|
etc. |
|
|
|
3. There are also some other possible vowel grade changes, as:
a. o-grade and e-grade: dem/dom, ped/pod, etc.
b. Other lesser used possibilities include a-grade, i-grade and u-grade, which usually come from old root endings, rather than from systematized phonetic changes.
NOTE. The alternation e/Ø was apparently in the old stages of IE dependent on the accent. Compare kleuos/klutos, eimi/imes, paterm/patros, etc. An unaccented morpheme thus lost its vowel. This happens only in old formations, though, as IE III lost this (possibly) older pattern and froze the old alternations.