Dear Michel,
The "normal methods" are "normal", i.e.
widely accepted, not without reason. I don't aspire to having followers or
disciples (except for my students who show their willingness to "follow" me if
they choose my seminars), and I really appreciate intellectual courage,
pioneership and nonconformism. But one thing is worth keeping in mind. Before
you go against the current it's a good thing if you understand what you oppose
and what makes the current flow. If you insist, against the opinion of the
Astrophysical Establishment, that the moon is empty inside, and refuse to
understand why such a view is untenable, are you courageous or merely
ignorant?
I don't claim that anyone who proposes
Illyro-Albanian continuity is a chauvinist. But I suppose you are aware that
this belief is often professed in a highly ethnocentric, not to say fanatical,
style. This is regrettable, since such an attitude gives people the impression
that the Illyrian hypothesis (which of course deserves to be seriously
considered) is a parochial myth reflecting a national inferiority
complex. There would be no such impression if it were argued in a rational
way and without open contempt for the ordinary methods of historical linguistics
(and, fortunately, it is so argued by many, including a number of respectable
Albanian scholars, who also admit that other views are possible and are not held
exclusively by the enemies of Albania). Please substantiate your claim that
those "evident concordances" between Albanian and Etruscan have been
demonstrated "black on white", and let the list evaluate the evidence for
themselves. If anyone's interested in reopening a serious discussion on the
linguistic position of Albanian, I'm game as usual.
Just in case anyone suspects my intentions,
I have the deepest respect for Albania, Albanian and Albanians, and I agree with
Eric Hamp that Albanian studies deserve much more attention that they get from
most IEists. I do dislike chauvinist attitudes no matter if they're Albanian,
Polish or Ruritanian. What else can I say?
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 7:45
PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Albanian
connection
Alvin, you are showing much courage in trying to go
countercurrent, in "refusing to obey" and to argue against "the normal methods
of historical linguistics" which is the present day method of the linguistic
Establishment to which Piotr and his followers adhere. Some authors have shown
black on white the evident concordances between Albanian and Etruscan. But the
credo of the followers of the "normal method" is that the Illyro-Albanian
continuity is but a purely imaginative and chauvinistic belief professed by
Albanians.
Michel