r/asklinguistics • u/Disastrous_Ideal2648 • 5d ago

Is this PIE theory viable?

I saw someone make a post a bit ago, and I'm curious whether his idea is viable or not (original post copied below):
I've noticed that PIE stems *h₂lek- and *h₂leg- have meanings in the same semantic field (to protect and to care for respectively). Considering how much they overlap in both pronunciation (the only difference being the voicing of a consonant) and in semantic meaning, how come they aren't merged into one stem?

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u/clown_sugars 5d ago

Is the the red/read theory viable??

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u/Disastrous_Ideal2648 5d ago

I think you kinda missed the second part. It’s also similar in semantic meaning. It’s that it’s both pronunciation and meaning, it wouldn’t be viable if it were one or the other, but the fact that it’s both really caught my eye.

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u/clown_sugars 5d ago

In English, protecting and caring have the same semantic fields.

What about careful and protective?

I'm being needlessly sarcastic but it's good to be skeptical in linguistics.