Abstract
Besides Chinese, Tai, and American Indian languages, Li Fang-Kuei also
studied Indo-European languages and comparison, of which he had a surprisingly detailed knowledge; this note recalls numerous stimulating conversations ranging over all these topics. Problems of homophonous morphological segments apply to Indo-European comparison much as homophony figures in comparative Chinese and Tai lexicology.
The formation of thematic stems in PIE embraces a complex of morpho-
logical processes of different functional values. Nouns of action in *-mo-s
must be severely distinguished from *-mo- adjectives, from *-mo- participles (ultimately in complex relation with other thematic participles in *-n-, -r-, -l-, -u-, -d-, and *-t-).
I have earlier established a zero-grade feminization in *-ma to the action noun in *-mo-, but evidence is sparse. Here I explore possible Albanian evidence and the IE dialectology of attestation of this less obvious formation. We have here a fragmentary episode of comparative IE morphology.
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