[Ads-l] "The root of all languages"

[Laurence Horn]

> On Feb 24, 2016, at 9:29 AM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> A few years ago, I reviewed and introductory phonetics text for speech
> students that claimed that Basque was spoken by Cro-Magnon 45,000 years
> ago.

Hard claim to disprove.  

>  Thankfully I have forgotten the author's name.
> 
> Herb
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 6:17 AM, Salikoko S. Mufwene <s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
>> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Salikoko S. Mufwene" <s-mufwene at UCHICAGO.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: "The root of all languages"
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Here we go again... back to primitive people, primitive cultures... and
>> of course they must speak the primordial, primitive languages! The
>> clicks, so complex as sounds, must have been the primordial consonants,
>> right? Damn! I once wrote an essay in which I argue that Africa is not
>> more likely to tell us what the primordial language was like, if there
>> was just one, than any other part of the world. Here's the link to it,
>> for those more interested in the complexity of the phylogenetic scenario:
>> 
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__mufwene.uchicago.edu_publications_WHAT-5FAFRICAN-5FLINGUISTICS-5FCAN-5FCONTRIBUTE-5FTO-5FEVOLUTIONARY-5FLINGUISTICS-5F-2D-5FACAL-5F43.pdf&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=C24A40-AFwYkfbBKKY8Cd3vgDXwsmi_BoLymthRVyMU&s=n3m8Xo7MkXFWQrr2yCDlXam1_cwPAzh70b0u_EI6KH0&e= 
>> 
>> Sali.
>> 
>> On 2/24/2016 7:42 AM, Amy West wrote:
>>> On 2/24/16 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
>>> 
>>>     From: Laurence Horn<laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>> To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU   Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 4:37 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "The root of all languages"
>>> 
>>>> On Feb 23, 2016, at 3:42 PM, Joel Berson<berson at att.net>  wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Today's puzzling Boston Globe again --
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> "Long ago, I spent some years in what now is Namibia, mostly in the
>>>> Kalahari Desert. At the time, the Kalahari was virtually unexplored
>>>> except by the people known as San, Bushmen, or Ju/wa hunter
>>>> gatherers, now believed to have been the people from whom all of us
>>>> descend. Their language is thought to be the root of all languages
>>> 
>>> Ah, it all clicks for me now.
>>> 
>>> LH
>>> 
>>>> Date:    Wed, 24 Feb 2016 00:49:51 +0000
>>>> From:    Joel Berson<berson at ATT.NET>
>>>> Subject: Re: "The root of all languages"
>>>> 
>>>> Groan.
>>>> 
>>>> Joel
>>> The worst thing, Joel, is that he does this live and in person as
>>> well. I think the ADS annual meeting should carry a warning label
>>> because of this. ;-)
>>> 
>>> ---Amy West
>>> 
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>> 
>> --
>> **********************************************************
>> Salikoko S. Mufwene                    s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
>> The Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics and
>> the College
>> Professor, Committee on Evolutionary Biology
>> Professor, Committee on the Conceptual & Historical Studies of Science
>> University of Chicago                  773-702-8531; FAX 773-834-0924
>> Department of Linguistics
>> 1115 East 58th Street
>> Chicago, IL 60637, USA
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__mufwene.uchicago.edu_&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=C24A40-AFwYkfbBKKY8Cd3vgDXwsmi_BoLymthRVyMU&s=qp0GMJXVgInCsc0G-E7CGiLUTeKVJw9AcSRsR5lTMh0&e= 
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>> 
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>> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=C24A40-AFwYkfbBKKY8Cd3vgDXwsmi_BoLymthRVyMU&s=3XLWGtmTNbkjPx_2cqHrkbM_3CdQ1NM0YvoOd5_KmGs&e= 
>> 
> 
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