From: G&P
Message: 61673
Date: 2008-11-16
>How reliable are
reconstructions of non-IE families?
We’d really need to hear from someone who works in that field. Trouble is, some who work in that field are convinced by evidence that is unconvincing to others. Nonetheless, some things are clear, particularly the patterns of what belongs with what and what is still to be proved. Altaic appears to be a disaster area. Was it a family? How does it relate to Uralic? Some non-IE families, such as Polynesian, can be fairly well reconstructed. The most exciting area is perhaps A-A, because of possible links with PIE. But I gather that there are big problems there too. In general, no other family is as well known or well understood as PIE, mostly because of lack of sufficient diverse early evidence.
Peter