Re: [tied] Re: Why India?

If PIE spread with the earliest Central and North European farming populations, it's success was due neither to anything in the nature of the language, nor to the aggressiveness of its speakers. The farmers did not even have to outnumber or absorb the local pre-Neolithic peoples -- not _at once_, at any rate.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: P&G

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 11:38 AM

Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Why India?

>I can't see how the Indo-Europeans in general could be credited with exceptional warlikeness ... Only because they won. My real point is that I find it hard to imagine that the spread of IE languages is due to anything in the nature of the languages. Or maybe coping with grammatical gender prepares you to conquer the world....