--- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@...> wrote:

> > *** This link should be better:

http://www.sumerian.org/sumerian.htm

>
> It's OK as long as you ignore "The Proto-Sumerian language invention
> process", where John claims not that the Sumerians invented writing
> (which is true), but that they invented speaking (which is silly).
> It's no substitute for learning Sumerian properly, which is a very
> difficult and very time-consuming process. For a linguistic
> introduction to Sumerian, Marie-Louise Thomsens' "The Sumerian
> Language" (Copenhagen, 1984) is indispensable. But reading

Thomsen's

> book still doesn't make one a Sumerologist.

Oh? Are you claiming that speaking comes after "writing"? Now THAT
is silly. I'm fairly certain that learning Sumerian is a daunting
task. I am not a Sumerologist. I'm only the gatekeeper. So how
should we proceed?

> Greenberg was a serious linguist, so he knew that neither Sumerian

nor

> Semitic comes even remotely close to being "the first language".
> Whatever that means. Greenberg considers Afro-Asiatic, Kartvelian

and

> Dravidian (amongst others) not to be part of Eurasiatic, although
> probably related to Eurasiatic on a higher level.

That's good to hear (that Greenberg wasn't interested in "origins").
If he considers Afro-Asiatic, Kartvelian and Dravidian (amongst
others) not to be part of Eurasiatic then where does he list them?

> > *** Now that's a good answer. Are you referring to Basque?
> > What other aspects of Indo-European continue being unresolved?
> > Sumerian? Are there many others?
>
> Neither Basque nor Sumerian are Indo-European, so they are

completely

> irrelevant to the question. Not that I understand the question.

What

> is "compiled" supposed to mean? Many many aspects of the
> Proto-Indo-European language remain unresolved or debated.

Hmmm. If Basque and Sumerian are not Indo-European then what are you
calling them? Nostratic?

> > Basque is a language. It is not an ethnic group.

Then why are the Basque Seperatists in Spain mounting an offensive?
Surely ain't for the sake of language!

> > *** Perhaps my question should have been, how does one separate

a language from a dialect?

>
> That's not a question to ask a linguist, unless you want the

standard

> reply: A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.

Cute answer. All it means to me is that a dialect (like Basque)
needs a strong military to make it an honest to goodness language.


Gerry