On 11/12/2001 06:06:31 AM "Peter T. Daniels" wrote:

>As I said in the first message with the above header, a typology in
>linguistics -- as pioneered by Greenberg -- is not an exhaustive
>"classification" and cannot be used as such.

True, but you did not respond to the point I was making, which is that his
types are based on *synchronic* properties of languages and have nothing
whatsoever to do with their historical derivation. Why should it not be
reasonable to similarly be interested in *synchronic* comparison of
scripts based on properties without regard to the historical derivation of
those scripts? Please speak to that point.



- Peter


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Peter Constable

Non-Roman Script Initiative, SIL International
7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas, TX 75236, USA
Tel: +1 972 708 7485
E-mail: <peter_constable@...>