Excluding data

[Jon Patrick]

On  Fri, 24 Sep 1999 15:16:36 +0100 (BST) Larry Trask said

[JP]
    > So I believe that a word in
    > the list compiled by Azkue at the turn of this century should be
    > used in any anlsysis unless it can be shown to be derivative from
    > some foreign source. The default is "basque" not "foreign".

    In "any analysis"?  No.  An analysis of the Basque existing around 1900,
    fine: Azkue is a pretty good source, with a few qualifications.

    But an analysis of Pre-Basque?  No.

    The overwhelming majority of the words entered in Azkue's dictionary did
    not exist in Pre-Basque.  So how can this dictionary, all by itself, be
    a source of information about Pre-Basque?

Larry, this is just getting silly. you're treating this issue like a dog with
an old bone. I've never said "all by itself". I've  said that the history of
knowledge about words should be used. Now let's drop it.

    > we know some words of limited distribution are in fact the earlier
    > forms of words. For example, certain words with aspirations are only
    > found in the north (the dialects with least speakers) but are
    > believed to be earlier.

<snip>

    Quite different is the case of the numerous words which are only
    attested *at all* in a limited part of the country.  These, in my view,
    should be automatically excluded from any initial list seeking to
    identify the best candidates for ancient status.  Some of them,
    undoubtedly, are ancient words which have survived only in a small area,
    but very many, probably the great majority, are words which are not
    ancient and which have been created and used only in a small area.
    Since we can't tell the difference in advance, all such words must be
    excluded from any initial list, for the purposes I have in mind.

Let's agree to differ. My position is that if can't be shown to be non-basque
then it is basque. If it can't be shown to be modern then it is old. How old
is anybody's guess.
Jon
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