Re: Tour (1)

On Sat, 31 May 2003 05:03:46 +0000, Rob <magwich78@...> wrote:

>Did Proto-Uralic have a stative paradigm?

Yes, sort of. The instransitive-subjective conjugation has

1. *-k
2. *-n

(details to follow)

>I also think that Nostratic must have
>been mainly isolating, since this is the most likely explanation for
>the shift in syntax that we see in Afrasian (SOV > VSO, postpositions
>> prepositions).

We have the shift SOV > SVO/VSO in Western Indo-European (VSO in
[Insular] Celtic) simultaneoulsy with a trend away from flexional
towards isolating (English is a fine example). Why can't the same
thing have happened in Northern Afro-Asiatic?

=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...