[Ads-l] Kusunda

[Laurence Horn]

Yeah, and Latin. Those old Romans seem to have lasted a few centuries with no words for “yes” and “no” without much of a problem. 


The absence of negation itself would be more surprising but doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. I asked a colleague who looked at David Watters's comprehensive 2006 grammar and noted 

"Looks like total bs, if this grammar is anything to go by. Negation has an irrealis asymmetry, and there are negative indefinite pronouns, existential negation, etc. 
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83v8d1wv <https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83v8d1wv>Is a basic but well set out grammar. Kusunda is the new Pirahã, I suspect”

Watters covers Kusunda negation on pp. 71-75.

LH

> On Sep 9, 2024, at 7:59 AM, Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:
> 
> On 9/9/24 00:00, ADS-L automatic digest system wrote:
>> Date:    Sun, 8 Sep 2024 09:11:32 -0400
>> From:    Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject: Kusunda
>> 
>> Mystery language of Nepal:
>> 
>> https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-language-that-doesn-t-use-no?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-DAILY-SPONSORED&PAVED-2024_09_08=&sponsored=0&position=8&category=fascinating_stories&scheduled_corpus_item_id=5a0bbd08-9bfb-4b64-8594-d0e7cfab5d66&url=https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-language-that-doesn-t-use-no
>> 
>> JL
>> -- "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
> 
> Hmmm . . . I've heard the same claim re: lack of "yes" and "no" re: Irish . . .
> 
> ---Amy West
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org