Basque statistics - methodological contradiction

[Larry Trask]

On Wed, 15 Sep 1999, Jon Patrick wrote:

> I agree that this is what you have expressed clearly in the list. I
> also think our differing views have been presented along with Lloyd
> Anderson's observations of some of the issues that can arise from
> your criteria, that is, they are not entirely value free and they
> can exclude useful evidence. However I am concerned that you also
> operate with unspoken criteria, that is from you undoubted rich
> knowledge of euskara, so that new possibilities are quickly excluded
> without being given the merit of systematic and comprehensive
> analysis. I DO NOT assert you do this deliberately. I just think it
> happens because you view the materials from your particular
> experiences. Others have the potential to use different
> deconstructions to arrive at different illuminations, that is those
> of us whose minds are unclouded by prior knowledge.

Possibly so.  But, if we are interested only in Pre-Basque, then I still
don't see how anything much can be concluded by starting with the modern
Basque lexicon, the vast bulk of which was not in the language 2000
years ago.

Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk