Proto-Indo-European circumflex intonation or bisyllabicity?

Abstract

The traditional analysis of PIE thematic case endings (a-stems and o-stems) with long vowels with circumflex intonation as the result of earlier contraction is now widely rejected on the grounds that languages cannot have distinctive intonations on unstressed syllables if they also have distinctive stress and vowel length. Instead of reconstructing long vowels with inherent circumflex intonation, uncontracted pairs of vowels with intervocalic laryngeal will be reconstructed here. This analysis can be applied to the Lithuanian reflexes and several accent-shifts can be discussed in terms of it. The division of Lithuanian into four accentual paradigms can be seen to result from these shifts and Lithuanian accent as an indicator of PIE accentual patterns is accordingly vindicated.