Larry on Altaic

[Larry Trask]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Sasha Vovin writes:
 
> Larry, may we have the names of mysterious Altaicists whom you
> consulted and who all unanimously reject Altaic? I am getting
> curious, may be you conferred with the wrong guys? (:-)
 
Yes, I thought somebody would ask this.  If you don't mind, I'll
decline, since the people I've talked to gave me the clear impression
that they were expressing a purely private opinion which they
preferred not to make public, and one of them said so explicitly.
 
This is reasonable.  I know of other cases of linguists who hold
private views about proposed genetic groupings which they prefer not
to go public with, merely because they want to maintain good relations
with colleagues whose public views are very different.
 
If it's any consolation, the very first relevant specialist I
approached turned out to be an enthusiastic proponent of Altaic,
including Korean (at least) as an Altaic language.  But all the others
have so far taken a negative view.  Bear in mind, though, that I was
asking a direct question in every case: "Do you believe in the genetic
validity of Altaic?"  Perhaps a more indirect line of questioning
might have elicited different responses.
 
Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK
 
larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk