Re: Lesbianism and IE gender distinction

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