LL-L "Language varieties" 2005.11.12 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
=======================================================================

   L O W L A N D S - L * 12 November 2005 * Volume 06
=======================================================================

From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2005.11.12 (05) [E]

Annette wrote:
> Actually we aren't African in origin.    If we were African, all our skin
> color would be dark, not varied from white to black.  Originally we all
came
> from Adam and Eve, and after all the wicked people were drowned, we all
> descended from Noah, and were scattered all over the world from  the Tower
> of Babel which was located somewhere in Mesopatamia.   When people
scattered
> from the Tower of Babel, it's only natural that there were pockets
intended
> to go to Asia, that wound up in Northern Europe, and consequently those
who
> would have gone to Europe, traveling to the Far East.   That might account
> for isolated language varieties.

So where does the stork figure in all this? You also forgto to mention Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is an important factor in linguistic
development that must never be neglected.

And if all the wicked people were drowned, how come we're stuck with so many
now? And how come Noah, of all people, was left over, the man who liked to
get so roaring drunk that his son found him half naked (what else had he
been up to?) and snoring, no doubt in a puddle of vomit, and told his
brothers in disgust that the old sot had been at it again, and then HE got
blamed for everything and even cursed by his "loving" father? Sounds pretty
abusive to me.

So how could our skin colour be more varied if we all descended from Adam
and Eve, or Noah and his long-suffering wife (the one who got to clean up
after him)? There is such a thing as biodiversity, meaning there is a lot
more genetic variety among a whole population than there is among the
offspring of just one couple. Also: it is much easier to lose a certain
genetic trait than to gain a brand-new one. In other words: it is much more
likely that dark pigmentation (melanin) was lost, not gained, during the
course of evolution.

But then I realise you were only joking anyway...

Gabriele Kahn

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net>
Subject: Language varieties

All right, all right, dearest Lowlanders!  With all due respect and 
affection to all of you, I will have to play the party pooper here before we 
go places we ought not be at.  It doesn't matter if anyone was serious or 
jesting, while it is all right for someone to voice their beliefs, beliefs 
that are likely to be personal to folks on the List (which could be any) 
ought be off limits with regard to debate.  Evolution, creationism and 
"intelligent creation" -- being very controversial and touchy subjects 
lately, definitely belong to this off-limits area.  Let's just permit each 
other to believe and follow whatever we choose, and let's let it slide by if 
someone expresses beliefs we don't share!  I myself often express my beliefs 
directly or indirectly--for instance that there are no human races as far as 
I am concerned--and I am fully aware that not everyone on the List 
subscribes to this and some may even find it mildly offensive.  Wisely, no 
one has challenged me on this, and that's how it ought to be.

Best regards,
Reinhard/Ron

***
"Tolerance is a great trait to contain,
but so is the ability to shut up."
                                                (Anonymous) 

==============================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================