Hittites ~ Phrygians ~ Balkan peoples?

petegray petegray at btinternet.com
Wed Aug 11 18:48:04 UTC 1999


>an
> algorithm developed to produce ...
> the correct phylogeny, or family tree,

Applied to languages, this is no better than the isoglosses you choose, and
this takes us back to an earlier debate where it became clear that an
isoglossic approach fails to consider:
(i) wave theory (which may underlie the satem/centum and RUKI isoglosses)
(ii) language continua
(iii) language convergence and Sprachbuende (is that word sufficiently
anglicised yet for an English plural to be accepted?   If not, which German
plural is the correct one - is it a language bunch (-bunde) or a language
alliance (-buende)?)
(iv) time of attestation.

Peter



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