Rate of Change

[X99Lynx at aol.com]

I wrote:
<<If you said "pad" and "philadelphia" have no surface similarity, that might
work.  But "pita" and "father" clearly do have some prima facie structural
similarities.>>

In a message dated 6/26/2001 11:40:28 PM, JoatSimeon at aol.com writes:
<< -- well, you're wrong there.
Consider the following words, all cognates and all meaning "horse" and all
derived from *ekuos
jor
eoh
'sp
yuk >>

No I think I'm right.
Consider the following words, not apparently cognates and ALL meaning "horse:"

caballos
ko:n
so qui li
marka
umma
nag
lo:
zaldi
mustang
hippos

The words in my list make the words in your list all look pretty close, in
comparison.  As I said, it is a matter of degree.

And that's the problem with subjective evaluations.  They lack objective
measure.

That's why a scientific approach calls for at least some precision in
measures of variance.  As in thermometers, radiation spectrums and
scientifically valid rates of change.

Regards,
Steve Long