Re: Nordwestblock, Germani, and Grimm's law

> > > > > > Hmmm. It seems you're not counting insufficiently
> > > > > > estabilish'd sound laws and propagation pathways as
> > > > > > "assumptions"? And you'll need a ton of both to make those
> > > > > > complexes work.
> > > > >
> > > > > Naah, I'll just claim they're wanderwords and then claim the
> > > > > same privilege for them of exemption from that stuff that
> > > > > they enjoy.
> > > >
> > > > What privilege where? I'm not aware of any that require a
> > > > handful of idiosyncratic innovations every other step.
> > >
> > > These do
> > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderwort
> >
> > Nope, not seeing anything out of the ordinary there. Would you
> > care to elaborate?
>
> Of course the transmission of those Wanderwörter contains nothing 'out of the ordinary'; we're used to them. Could you be a bit more specific?

Chiefly, no weird consonant alternations. *tSai never becomes /dZia/, or *kAhvi never becomes /kubbi/, etc.

The burden of proof for defining "privilege of exemption" more specifically is on you I believe.

> > "hand",
> See the Epimakhov, Koryakova quote in
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/65159
> With a societal division like that, and with a metaphor of the wings (note the English metaphor) as arms/hands of the main body, you get an easy semantic slide "side" <-> "hand"

Yes, "limb" > "side" is well attested (also "my right hand" etc.) However I do not like the opposite direction of development at all. Much too specific without motivation. Tons of things are at the sides of something.

At least you didn't say it's "group" > "100" > "10" > "5" > "hand". ;)

> > Also, only the first of those is an innovation by any stretch.
>
> The second goes with the first as its antonym (if they were once both adjectives): ordered mass vs. unordered mass.

A concept of "group" in general would have existed even before. I don't see why some existing word couldn't have been appropriated for the negativly defined sense. After the introduction of *kants, all the older "group" words would have by default been "unordered".

> The third is a mental quest, partly judicial, part magical, a function needed in such a composite society.
>
> Torsten

Sounds like a fairytale TBH.

John Vertical