Re: PIE's closest relatives

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Alexander Stolbov" <astolbov@...>
wrote:

> John Croft wrote:
>
> > With the exception of Ancient Egyptian and Proto-
> > Semitic, Afro-Asiatic langauges do not share a common vocabulary

for

> > agricultural items suggesting that the Proto-Berber, Proto-Hausa,
> > Proto-Cushitic, Proto-Egyptian and Proto-Semitic dispersed BEFORE
> > agriculture spread across the area of the Sahara and Sahel.
>
> From Illich-Svitych (#173):
>
> Afro-Asiatic *kr 'lamb, young ram'
> Semitic *kr 'lamb, ram'
> Berberic *kr(r) - Tuareg <ekrer> 'ram' ; Shelkha <ikru> 'young

ram' ;

> Kabilian <ikerri> 'ram'
> Chadic - Angas <kir> 'ram on fattening'

This root relates to livestock (or possibly dairy) farming, not
_agriculture_ 'cultivation of the soil', i.e. the raising of crops,
i.e. plants. From a brief look in a dictionary, it looks as though
you have a translation problem.

Richard.