Re: Pronunciation of "r" - again?

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:

>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew Jarrette" <anjarrette@...>
> To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 12:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [tied] Pronunciation of "r" - again?

...[cut]...

> > Now, I must learn about Nostratic - I am completely ignorant in

this

> > field. So it is generally accepted that Arabic is indeed related

to

> > Indo-European? Sounds like the legend of the Tower of Babel and

the other

> > Biblical ideas about the origins of language might not be all

that far off

> > from the truth, at least metaphorically.
> >
> > Andrew Jarrette
>
>
> ***
> Patrick:

...[cut]...

> For those who subscribe to Nostratic, Arabic is related to PIE

through

> Proto-Afro-Asiatic.

Certainly true, but just to clarify the point in Andrew's question
about general acceptance, it should be pointed out that the majority
of professionals in the field of Historical Linguistics- rightly or
wrongly- do not subscribe to the Nostratic hypothesis. It is not that
they assert its impossibility, but that they feel the available
evidence is insufficient to support the conclusion. And following
from that they feel there is insufficent evidence to determine how
Arabic might be related to IE.

regards,
Ned Smith