The Neolithic Hypothesis (Latin et al.)

[X99Lynx at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/29/99 2:09:37 AM, JoatSimeon at aol.com wrote:
<<And Old Church Slavonic was comprehensible to "all Slavia", at the time. >>

I replied:
<<I've been looking for the historical source for that idea for awhile,
specifically with regard to the northwestern Slavs (the Wends), Czechs and
Poles, etc.  But I haven't found it. The problem with this assertion about OCS
and that [western] group is that it is difficult to find instances where many
western Slavic speakers would have been even exposed to OCS.>>

In a message dated 3/31/99 11:48:57 PM, JoatSimeon at aol.com wrote:
<<-- Old Church Slavonic is simply what was spoken by the Slavs with whom the
Byzantines were most familiar.  At that point the Slavic peoples all spoke
dialects of one language.>>

Just as I thought.  You have no evidence that OCS "was comprehensible to "all
Slavia", at the time" either.  The answer is it may not have been.  It is
curious that this unsubstantiated idea is repeated so often.

Regards,
Steve Long