<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Proto-Dialect chains</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1170" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you for starting the ball rolling
again. RIGHT ON!</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=lynch_j@VANUATU.USP.AC.FJ
href="mailto:lynch_j@VANUATU.USP.AC.FJ">John Lynch</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=AN-LANG@anu.edu.au
href="mailto:AN-LANG@anu.edu.au">AUSTRONESIAN LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, July 15, 2003 12:25
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [An-lang] Proto-Dialect
chains</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Andrew Pawley and I have been having a
little</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>private</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>
e-discussion, but felt it might be</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>better</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> to come on-</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>list</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> to get a wider
spread</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>of</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>
ideas.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>The query relates to the</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>nomenclature</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>used</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> for protolanguages and
families as opposed to proto-dialect chains and linkages. One</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>might</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> refer to the Polynesian
subgroup, for example, and to</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>Proto-</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Polynesian</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>, as</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>implying</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2> a (fairly) homogeneous and</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>uniform</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> single ancestral language. Forms
labelled PPn *xyz would thus</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>represent</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> forms which, to the best
of</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>our</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>
<FONT face=Arial size=2>knowledge</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>, were part of
that</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>protolanguage</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>My concern is with dialect-chains. There
was probably a Southern Oceanic</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>linkage</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>, an dialect-chain ancestral to
the languages of Vanuatu and New Caledonia. To use the same nomenclature for
this proto-dialect chain</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>-</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2> i.e.,</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>Proto-</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Southern</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> Oceanic</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>-</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2> tends to imply that it is</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>of</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> the same</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>nature</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> as a more</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>homogeneous</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>protolanguage</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>, which it is
not.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nevertheless, it seems to me that
it</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>would</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> be
useful to have some fairly tight and neat way of referring to such</FONT>
<FONT face=Arial size=2>ancestors</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>, and not by
some long-winded expression like</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>"</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>Ancestral Southern Oceanic dialect-chain</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>"</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> or some</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>such</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>, especially</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>since</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> one can legitimately
also make</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>reconstructions</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2> for such a</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>"</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>language</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>"</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>, with the proviso that they are less secure and were
probably</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>more</FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>subject</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>
to</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>internal</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>
variation than those made for</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>protolanguages</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>My suggestion to</FONT> <FONT face=Arial
size=2>Andy</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> was to use lower-case p:
proto-</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Southern</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>
Oceanic and pSOc as opposed tpo Proto-Polynesian and PPn. I felt this would be
a sufficient indication of</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> difference, and yet
at the same time brief,</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>succinct</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>, and</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>similar</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2> enough to existing conventions.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Does anyone have any reactions to</FONT>
<FONT face=Arial size=2>such</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> a</FONT> <FONT
face=Arial size=2>convention</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>, or more
importantly any idea on what others might have used?</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks,</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2>John Lynch</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </P>
<P align=left><A name=_MailAutoSig></A></P>
<P align=left><I><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=1>"The past is not dead.
It is not even past." (William Faulkner)</FONT></I></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial
size=1>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=1>John Lynch</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=1>Pro-VC and Director Pacific Languages
Unit</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=1>Emalus Campus - USP</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=1>PMB 072</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=1>Port Vila. Vanuatu.</FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=1>Phone: +678 22748. Fax: +678
22633</FONT></P><BR>
<P align=left></P>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>An-lang mailing
list<BR>An-lang@anu.edu.au<BR>http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/an-lang<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>