12 May
2010
12 May
'10
11:20 a.m.
From: Dan Gahlinger
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 8:13 PM
Oh, I just know I'm going to regret this.
that's the trouble with language etymology
sometimes,
is the language (natural or otherwise) the predecessor (mother/root
language) or is it a more modern [sic] purpose-built or customized to
a specific region or culture...
linguists have trouble with this sort of thing on a
daily basis,
[snip]
No. We don't.
I'm saying this as someone with degrees in historical linguistics, more
particularly specializing in the Indo-European family of languages but
with work in Kartvelian, Algonquian, Siouan, Finno-Ugric and Semitic as
well.
Rich