Re: Stacking up on standard works

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Tavi" <oalexandre@...> wrote:

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

> > > I must repeat Basque isn't part of NEC or North Caucasian,
> > > but in any case a somewhat distant relative.

> > Then why on earth do you imagine that Starostin's PNC can
> > reasonably approximate Proto-Vasco-Caucasian?

> There's a number of reasons. For example, while PNC has a huge consonant
> inventory, Basque has a very reduced inventory, lacking e.g. voiced
> fricatives. There're also some hints that Sino-Tibetan could be an
> offspring of PNC rather than a sibling as in Starostin's
> "Sino-Caucasian".

That would make Sino-Tibetan part of North Caucasian - by definition, North Caucasian includes the 'crown clade' of the NEC and NWC languages. (What else it should include is ill-defined and a matter of convenience.)

It's conceivable that PNC could approximate Proto-Vasco-Caucasian much as Sanskrit approximates PIE.

Richard.