Re: [tied] Re: Pronunciation of "r" - again?

----- Original Message -----
From: "ehlsmith" <ehlsmith@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 08, 2005 8:59 AM
Subject: [tied] 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

***
Patrick:

Yes, it is a timely and "academicly correct" position to take.

By _not_ asserting its impossibility, they absolve themselves of the
responsibility of showing that it is wrong - which they cannot do. If they
could do so, believe me, they would!

There are many reasons why the majority of linguists does not accept the
Nostratic hypothesis but lack of evidence cannot be one of them since an
abundance of evidence is there for all who will look to see.

For those who might have an open mind, this short essay might be of
interest:

http://geocities.com/proto-language/c-AFRASIAN-3_germanic.htm

***