accusative and ergative languages

[Patrick C. Ryan]

Dear Joat and IEists:
 ----- Original Message -----
From: <JoatSimeon at aol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 1:54 AM

>> proto-language at email.msn.com writes:

>> Of course we have no data on the earliest human language in the same way we
>> have no data on IE

> -- this statement is incorrect.  PIE was spoken 5000 years ago and the
> earliest written examples of IE languages date to the 2nd millenium BCE.

> There is a gap of no more than a few millenia.

> The earliest human languages were spoken -- using a minimal estimate -- at
> least 50,000 years ago.  Probably considerably more.

> This is several iterations more temporal distance than between us and PIE.

So what? It only requires us to expand our universe of applicable data. The
idea that vocabulary is irretrievably lost is jejeune.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN (501) 227-9947; FAX/DATA (501)312-9947 9115 W. 34th St.
Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803 and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit
ek, at ek hekk, vindga meipi, nftr allar nmu, geiri undapr . . . a ~eim
meipi er mangi veit hvers hann af rstum renn." (Havamal 138)