2 Jun
2010
2 Jun
'10
12:20 p.m.
From: Ben
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 8:46 PM
Rich Alderson wrote:
> Oh, that's simply nonsense, and I doubt that
you read that. (You may
> have misunderstood something you read to say that, I'll grant.) The
> horse was domesticated roughly 7,500 years ago, or anywhere from 7 to
> 25 times more recently than language in humans.
I think that was about 10k to 15k BP. I don't have
the the original
doc's to prove on way or the other as I read this third hand.
I do know it was historical fiction, but the facts seem reasonable
in context. Piers Anthony was the writer.
Seriously???? Will you cite Jean Auel next?
By training, I am an historical linguist specializing in Indo-European
languages, with additional studies in Algonquian, Siouan, and Kartvelian
linguistics. I thought we were having a real discussion of real data on
(off) the topic.
I admire Piers Anthony's facility with language, but he is entertainment
rather than academics.
> Are you refering to _The Horse, the Wheel, and
Language_? The author
> is an archaeological anthropologist, and both his linguistics and his
> use of Zoroastrian mythology is shaky (to be kind). I can only hope
> that the archaeology holds up better than the other two; I'm not
> qualified to judge its merits (only one arch. anthro. course in
> college).
A proper report lets you judge one way or the other.
I agree.
The problem is that his missteps with the linguistics, and anachronistic
use of Zoroastrian mythology, casts grave doubts on the interpretations
he gives to the data he reports from Soviet-era digs.
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Server Engineer
Vulcan, Inc.
505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98104
mailto:RichA at vulcan.com
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.PDPplanet.org/
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