Induktive versus abduktive Rekonstruktion

The method of comparative reconstruction is considered as the best instrument to reveal the prehistory of individual languages or linguistic families. It is inductive (data-driven) and seems to be much more reliable as the concurring method of internal reconstruction. Still it has been overlooked that each comparative reconstruction - to be innovative - has to be based on an initial premise. Such a premise is always the result of an abductive conclusion as used in internal reconstruction. Thus each comparative reconstruction has a core consisting of internal reconstruction. For syntactical reconstruction the following premise seems to be suitable: Linguistic structures and their changes obey the principles of universal grammar (e. g. the Minimalistic Program) and of grammaticalization. This premise proves fruitful for the explanation of the Early Greek augment */e-/< *h1e-. The augment can be determined as an original particle in the CP layer of the sentence. Later on it is reanalysed as a temporal particle, becomes part of the vP and underlies univerbation with the verb.