Re: Who believes what in IE linguistics?

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "willemvermeer" <wrvermeer@...>
wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Christopher Culver
> <christopher_culver@...> wrote:
>
>
> > In my studies of comparative Indo-European linguistics, I am
> somewhat
> > confused as to which scholars hold which views. I do gather, for
> > instance, that (...) Still, how other scholars view these
> assertions is
> > unclear.
>
>
> This is a sad state of affairs, as I see it due largely to the
> confluence of a number of problematic traditions:
>
>
> The first is a tradition of behavioral autism. Scholars prefer
> developing their own systems over sorting out what really is going

on

> and carrying out scholarly dialogue. It is my impression that this
> has become worse with time.
>
>
> The second is a tradition of truly heart-breaking authoritarianism.
> In historical (and not only historical) linguistics as normally
> carried out in institutional settings, the boss is always right.
> Disagreeing with the boss is near-universally treated as a breach

of

> ethical and professional standards meriting exclusion from the

group.

> Contrary to what is often believed and despite local exceptions,

this

> tradition is not limited to Germany and does not seem to be on the
> wane.
>
>
> The third is a persistent tradition of not *weighing* but *feeling*
> evidence. This leads to a bias in the direction of the theories one
> was taught as a student, because they are familiar and therefore

feel

> right.
>
>
> I find the results of all this extremely depressing. Laryngeal

theory

> was formulated in the seventies of the nineteenth century. How many
> generations were needed before it was taken seriously by a majority
> of members of the profession? What real science can claim such a
> dismal record?
>
>
> And wherever you look you'll find similar examples.
>

One could probably spin some interesting insults from the fact that
it was German linguists who opposed most staunchly the introduction
into Indo-European of laryngeals, a term used first by Hermann Møller
as part of his scheme to prove the genetic relationship of
Indogermanisch and Semitisch.


Torsten