Peter_Constable@... wrote:

>
> On 11/09/2001 07:11:04 AM "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
>
> >Of course. See any history of THE alphabet.
> >
> >(I mean, obviously, it was only invented once.)
>
> So was the automobile, but that doesn't mean they're all the same. People
> who presume that primates evolved from a single source wouldn't say
> they're all the same. To say that these are not different scripts in need
> of classification is simply silly.

And in the classification system for "means of transport," you don't
have classes for "raft, chariot, sailboat, steamboat, airplane, -- and
Ford, Mercedes, and Toyota!" (or even sedan, coupe, and roadster, to use
three words I "learned" from Hardy Boys stories without any hint of what
they are).

--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...