[Ads-l] "The root of all languages"

[Herb Stahlke]

A few years ago, I reviewed and introductory phonetics text for speech
students that claimed that Basque was spoken by Cro-Magnon 45,000 years
ago.  Thankfully I have forgotten the author's name.

Herb



On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 6:17 AM, Salikoko S. Mufwene <s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Salikoko S. Mufwene" <s-mufwene at UCHICAGO.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "The root of all languages"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here we go again... back to primitive people, primitive cultures... and
> of course they must speak the primordial, primitive languages! The
> clicks, so complex as sounds, must have been the primordial consonants,
> right? Damn! I once wrote an essay in which I argue that Africa is not
> more likely to tell us what the primordial language was like, if there
> was just one, than any other part of the world. Here's the link to it,
> for those more interested in the complexity of the phylogenetic scenario:
>
> http://mufwene.uchicago.edu/publications/WHAT_AFRICAN_LINGUISTICS_CAN_CONTRIBUTE_TO_EVOLUTIONARY_LINGUISTICS_-_ACAL_43.pdf
>
> Sali.
>
> On 2/24/2016 7:42 AM, Amy West wrote:
> > On 2/24/16 12:00 AM, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
> >
> >      From: Laurence Horn<laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >  To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU   Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 4:37 PM
> >  Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "The root of all languages"
> >
> >> On Feb 23, 2016, at 3:42 PM, Joel Berson<berson at att.net>  wrote:
> >>
> >> Today's puzzling Boston Globe again --
> >>
> >>
> >> "Long ago, I spent some years in what now is Namibia, mostly in the
> >> Kalahari Desert. At the time, the Kalahari was virtually unexplored
> >> except by the people known as San, Bushmen, or Ju/wa hunter
> >> gatherers, now believed to have been the people from whom all of us
> >> descend. Their language is thought to be the root of all languages
> >
> > Ah, it all clicks for me now.
> >
> > LH
> >
> >> Date:    Wed, 24 Feb 2016 00:49:51 +0000
> >> From:    Joel Berson<berson at ATT.NET>
> >> Subject: Re: "The root of all languages"
> >>
> >> Groan.
> >>
> >> Joel
> > The worst thing, Joel, is that he does this live and in person as
> > well. I think the ADS annual meeting should carry a warning label
> > because of this. ;-)
> >
> > ---Amy West
> >
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> --
> **********************************************************
> Salikoko S. Mufwene                    s-mufwene at uchicago.edu
> The Frank J. McLoraine Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics and
> the College
> Professor, Committee on Evolutionary Biology
> Professor, Committee on the Conceptual & Historical Studies of Science
> University of Chicago                  773-702-8531; FAX 773-834-0924
> Department of Linguistics
> 1115 East 58th Street
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> http://mufwene.uchicago.edu/
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