----- Original Message -----From: erobert52@...Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 9:31 PMSubject: Re: [nostratic] Problems with messagesI think scepticism is in order here, and here's why:
i) We are dealing with a very short name, therefore the chances of finding a match are enormously increased.
ii) We are dealing with a name starting with a very common letter - on average more than 7% of the names in all of the languages of the world that begin with a consonant will begin with N.
iii) Criteria for determining a match are very loose.
iv) There is no explanation as to how the name could have spread, other than the Egyptian example.
Sorry, but I don't think it's plausible without other evidence.
Ed.
In a message dated 16/06/02 18:07:38 GMT Daylight Time, jeffco@... writes:
According to a tradition from the Lower Sepik in New Guinea, a man called Nu
went up a hill, killed his son, tore the body in pieces, and threw each in a
different direction, each time saying something in a different language.
The pieces of the boy's body became the ancestors of villages in different
parts of the country. [Knappert, J. (1992), "Pacific Mythology", Aquarian
Press: 165.] (So there's a Nu who's an ancestor, at least, even if not a
flood hero).
According to one Chinese tradition, a girl called Nuwa survived the Deluge
in an iron boat; [MacKenzie, D.A., "Myths and Legends: China and Japan".
1994 edition: 268] according to another, the goddess Nu Kwa managed to
restore a pillar holding up the sky that had been toppled by three rebels,
so stopping the flood caused by the fallen pillar. [McLeish, K. (1996)
"Myth": 158-159]. (The flood hero has here become a flood heroine or flood
goddess).
The Egyptian word nwy, "flood", may be connected with the name of the god
Nu or Nunu or Nu, who symbolized the primeval waters. According to Martin
Bernal, the name Noah is probably connected with the word nwy because it was
widely disseminated in the Near East. [Bernal 1991: 84] (I'm aware that
Bernal's linguistic arguments have met with criticism in some quarters).
The Mexican Nata, who survived a flood by scraping out a cypress tree,
belonged to the Nahua, or Nahuatl, people.
According to a tradition from the Sagaiyes of Central Asia, Noj is
instructed by God to build a ship, but is unable to complete it in time.
According to Altai legend, the three sons of Nama build an ark to escape the
flood. [Holmberg, U. (1927), "Finno-Ugric and Siberian Mythology": 362,
364].
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