Joseph Crary wrote:
>apology given because I thought you knew enough about the chronology and
>archaeological material culture of the regions you were discussing, to
>understand the question, or for that mater form an opinion
(It's spelled "matter", not "mater" as in "alma mater"... but
perhaps you probably haven't come across this phrase in your
dictionary yet to understand the distinction.)
Unfortunately for you, Joseph, your mock apology is spoken in
thin air because this a *linguistics* forum, specifically on
proto-IE and its daughter languages. Here, *linguistical* knowledge
is primary, not archaeology nor general history or prehistory
(although this is all still useful in these discussions since linguistics
often overlaps into other humanities).
Based on your questions, you lack even the general linguistic
knowledge necessary to converse coherently in this forum, but, as
I've said, this can be easily remedied with occasional searches
on an online encyclopaedia. Why don't you try this?
Of course, I could likewise sarcastically apologize to myself for
wasting my precious time with people who'd rather spend their
waking hours trolling through dictionaries for coincidental
similarities rather than educating themselves on the actual study
they pretend to understand.
Joseph, admitting some of his lack of understanding, says:
>Still I don't understand why you're devising a theory about an
>extinct language group, that hypothetically occupied a large region, when
>the only solid evidence comes from a very much smaller district...
Creating a theory on an extinct but *existant* language group in
an area where it is later found historically is a far better
strategy than blind mass comparison (like the Atya=*ate crap).
The former strategy offers SOME evidence, even if meager, while
the latter (your strategy of FinnoUgric-Etruscan-anything-goes
comparisons) provides NO evidence at all and even ignores
specialized knowledge in favour of one's own small, individual
fantasies. Note how my theories also do not ignore specialized
knowledge on the subject. If they do, I am quick to adapt them or
scrap them accordingly.
This should be a simple problem of logic and mathematical
probability. Especially so, since I've talked to people not
abreast with linguistics who can appreciate why mass comparison
is a waste of time.
I hope this has clarified the study of linguistics for you so that
you might grow and adapt better to valid criticisms.
- gLeN
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