Re: Lesbianism and IE gender distinction

From: John Croft
Message: 1095
Date: 2000-01-24

Glen wrote
> Well, I'm not too sure about that idea but I am toying with the idea
that
> *-H2 derives an earlier form *-hi. I believe Sumerian (related to IE
under
> the Nostratic family) has a similar suffix for plurals and we
wouldn't hope
> to find this suffix in closer languages like Altaic or Uralic since
they
> seem to lack laryngeals.

I was unaware that Sumerian was part of the Nostratic. This would only
hold if one accepts the obsolete theory of Sumerian as linked to
Altaic. Or perhaps Dravidian. Neither of these links have gone beyond
the hypothetical stage.

Personally I feel Sumerian is a linguistic isolate - possibly from an
extinct East Arabic pre-Afro-Asiatic language group. I have no
evidence to base this on except that the Sumerians claim to have
originally come from Bahrein.

John