Sorry that my inquiry was seen by you as
playful. I hadn't meant it to be. The point I was making was simply
that written evidence doesn't stretch back to the times of the origins of
language no matter whether you divide them into three:
1. The ultimate origins of human language; 2. The origins of
all human languages; 3. The origins of Nostratic languages --
or not. Without written documentation, origins becomes nothing more than
conjecture.
As far as Proto-World -- that sounds like a decent
handle. IMO it should be able to encapsulate all the groups that Nostratic
left out. However, and I repeat for the zillionth time, Alekseev always
said that all languages from the beginnings of time were mixed. Thus, even
Proto-World has a problem in reconstruction.
Gerry