Monogenesis and "simple Darwinian grounds"

[manaster at umich.edu]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I must say that I am saddened by the fact that on a list devoted
to historical linguistics it is so much easier to get a discussion
going of the issue of mono- vs. polygenesis than of current substantive
questions involving linguistic classification AND by the fact (surely
not unrelated) that the contributions so far offered on the mono- vs.
polygenesis issue have been, as it appears, entirely aprioristic.
 
For example, when reading Michael Morrison's statement:
(Quote)
 
Personally, I don't believe we will be able to reconcile the many
language families of today to a degree that will answer the genesis
question.  Based on the data with which we have to work, I doubt
any overarching superfamily will be accepted by the field as a
whole, and so the debate will continue.  Sigh
(End of Quote)
 
am I the only one (or indeed am I crazy) to wonder what possible
basis one could have for this extraordinary assessement, especially
in the light of what has emerged recently (as noted by Larry Trask,
for example), namely, that there HAS been no real debate for teh
simple reason that there is a dearth of competent debaters?
 
I myself would prefer to debate the mono- vs. polygenesis of
particular proposed linguistic groupings (e.g., of Yiddish, Altaic,
Pakawan, etc.), but as for the mono- vs. polygenesis of lg, I would
only point out that clearly monogenesis is for many linguists the
null hypothesis, and indeed it would be polygenesis which would, if
demosntrated, constitute a revolutionary discovery.  A proof of
monogenesis would be an anticlimax, I think.  But while I do not
think that we will NEVER know, it is clear that we are in no
position to decide anything today, and that we will indeed never
know anything in this area if we continue to refuse to get our
hands dirty and work on the problem of classifying the world's
language and reconstructing the protohistories of the resulting
groupings.
 
AMR