Glen -

>> Some people here don't
> even have the linguistics down pat, let alone the rest.

I'm afraid that I fit this description only too well! (Seriously: I really
know very little about linguistics).

>
> Simple questions on Nostratic can be a great starting point to an
> interesting
> debate.

Well, could I just ask this? (If it's been dealt with elsewhere, or is
perhaps the wrong sort of question for the Nostratic list, perhaps someone
would be kind enought to let me know?)

Why is the name Noah so similar to the names of other flood-heroes and
ancestor-heroes to be found worldwide: Noj in central Asia Noj; Nuwa, or Nu
Kwa, in China; Nata of the Nahua people in Mexico; Nama in
southwest-Siberi; Noh, of South Africa (Noh and Hingnoh were the ancestors
of the Hottentots); and Nu'u in Hawaii? It's been suggested that "Noah" is
connected with the ancient Egyptian Nunu, "flood" - so perhaps the South
African "Noh" was somehow connected with that. It's also been suggested
that the Hawaiian Nu'u, for example, is simply Christian contamination.
But, in that case, what about the other examples? Could there perhaps have
been some widespread dissemination of the name of one particular culture
hero at a very early date?

Regards,

Jean Kelly