... *-eH . In Greek we find -? or -???in Ionic and in Attic except after ???????? In Latin, as with the nominative and accusative plural of the neuter o-stems we find a short -a. We expect a long -a since the nominative is generally followed by a consonant. (-eH C>aC) This could be under the influence either of the vocative and accusative both of which have a short vowel in Latin or that of words prone to iambic shortening, toga becoming toga. In Latin and in most cases in Greek the nominative has taken over the vocative form, and rightly we reconstruct I.E. *-eH as for the nominative. We find a short -a in the vocative also. There are also instances in Greek where we find a short ????such as Homeric ???????e.g. Il. III.130) and in Lesbian ????????????????????? These can be explained by the fact that in I.E. languages?a vocative ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now