From: Gerry Reinhart-Waller <
waluk@...>
> I don't think the Lithuanians would especially like being
reformed.
> Don't you recall their millennium contribution: it was very
archaic in
> movement, costume, song etc. There *culture* was presented
as the
> oldest one of the lot.
We're veering off-topic (at least for this group), but the
Lithuanians can indeed claim to be the oldest, and
***purest*** of all the Indo-European peoples in linguistic
terms (there are no native-speakers of proto-Indo-Iranian or
proto-Balto-Slavic). The trouble is, most people have barely
heard of Lithuania and have not the least idea of the glories
associated with the language and culture.
I mean no disrespect to the other languages of Eastern Europe.
It's just that Lithuanian is the most archaic of the IE
languages.