Torsten:
>If I claim that the *b/p-r/l rump/dump/lump is a Wanderwort from
>Sundaland that ended up in the Mediterranean, then it is is relevant
>that there is d/r/l/n vacillation in pre-IE Mediterranean and in
>Austronesian languages, and it is irrelevant that that also occurs in
>Mandarin and Cantonese. You can do better than that, gLeN.
You can claim anything your little heart desires, mi amigo, but it doesn't
make your ideas any more likely than they aren't at this moment. Like Piotr
has said and which I firmly agree with, being in touch with Mandarin and
Cantonese, the oscillation between these sounds is nothing extraordinary at
all and occurs world-wide often. Mandarin /lan, nan/ "blue", Cantonese /lei,
nei/ "you" versus Mandarin /ni/. I believe Miguel has pointed out Egyptian
examples. I can think of some long-range examples in my head too but some
people still have trouble with Nostratic so I will digress.
The point is, this phenomenon is just too common to be used as some kind of
proof of anything. It's a very weak arguement. I think _you_ can do better
than that. And your Sundaland fantasy still ignores all of the commonly
known and accepted archaeological, linguistic and genetic findings...
Whatever your heart desires.
- gLeN
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