Dravidian/Uralic

[Steven Schaufele]

Concerning the possible glossogenetic connection between Dravidian and
Uralic (what i like to call the `Dravido-Uralic Hypothesis'), i have a
paper, copies of which i would be happy to make available to anyone
interested; this paper is basically an attempt at a critical survey of what
has been said in the published literature on the subject, from Caldwell
up to the present.  Any requests for copies of this paper will be
honoured, provided they are accompanied by snail-mail addresses, assuming
i can find it in my `archives' (probably down in the basement).
 
Here i will say that i, personally, am favourably disposed towards the
Dravido-Uralic Hypothesis, and this comes across in the above-mentioned
paper.  However, the necessary time-depth is such, and (consequently?)
the proposed cognate morphemes so short (though, it seems to me, in such
tantalizingly large numbers), that it is extremely difficult to demon-
strate cognacy beyond a reasonable shadow of a doubt.  I'm hoping VERY
MUCH for an opportunity to pursue this matter further, if i ever get a
chance to do any original research, but it's going to have to be done a
LOT MORE critically than it has been in the past.  Too much of what has
been written and published on the matter has been coloured too heavily by
the authors' attitude, whether pro or con, on long-distance reconstruc-
tion in general and the Dravido-Uralic Hypothesis in particular.  And
that, at the moment, is my very brief perspective on the current state of
scholarship on this question.
 
Best,
Steven
---------------------
Dr. Steven Schaufele
712 West Washington
Urbana, IL  61801
217-344-8240
fcosws at prairienet.org
http://www.prairienet.org/~fcosws/homepage.html
 
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