Re: Scientist's etymology vs. scientific etymology

--- "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...> wrote:

> At 11:56:05 AM on Saturday, June 7, 2008, tgpedersen
> wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> >> Vennemann's rambling rhetoric is about as
> convincing as a
> >> three- dollar bill. In decades of riding his
> >> Euro-Vasconic hobbyhorse, he has yet to establish
> >> anything usable. A Kling-Klang similarity between
> >> 'cheese' and the Basque for 'salt' is
> etymologically
> >> worthless.
>
> > Unless backed up by specific criticism of
> Vennemanns
> > proposal for the connection between 'cheese' and
> the
> > Basque for 'salt' the above ad hominem filled
> paragraph is
> > linguistically worthless.
>
> There isn't an ad hominem in it: it's merely the
> expression
> of a negative judgement of the work, not an attack
> on the
> man himself.
>
> Brian
>

Vennemann's work is frustrating because you get the
feeling he has something almost in his grasp but just
can't close his fingers. There are patterns to be seen
in his work, he's definitely a brilliant man and not a
crackpot. But what's out there doesn't lend itself to
easy analysis and he may be mistaken in some regards
to the directions of the loanwords he posits. Some of
his Vasconic may well be from some early W-IE language
into Basque. But his work should not be dismissed
because his lists and patterns may establish new
insights or even be validated if enough supporting
material becomes available.