Re: Bembi, Baiberi, and Baibai (was: Re: Barba and Bestia)

At 4:13:26 AM on Friday, August 7, 2009, stlatos wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
> <BMScott@...> wrote:

>> At 2:33:42 AM on Friday, August 7, 2009, stlatos wrote:

>> [...]

>>> *aq'wARXWunWA > *Oq'wOBBumWO > *OwOrumO > Mafuara wOrOmuO;
>>> *Oq'wOBBumWO > *qOBuw > Guriaso kOru, Bb kubhO 'leg'

>>> *OÑWuq'RwiyE > *OÑWëp'Rwëy > F këbw; Bb nëmbi; Biaka
>>> bObwi; Kw fofo 'a sore'

>> Gesundheit. This isn't a method: it's a magic wand.

> You have shown no method at all; you merely said that mb >
> B in Fas,

Actually, I did not: I made a rather weaker statement.

In any case, you appear to have missed the point of my last
comment: just as one can find any number of resemblances
between languages if one allows sufficient phonetic and
semantic leeway, so one can construct a common ancestor to
damn' near any small set of words if one allows sufficiently
complex ancestral clusters, enough rare or unattested sound
changes, and enough metatheses and optional rules. In your
reconstructive enthusiasm you've lost sight of the forest
for the trees -- at times perhaps even for the leaves.

But carry on; it's no worse than Snorratrú.

Brian