Lactose Intolerance/Renfrew

proto-language proto-language at email.msn.com
Tue Apr 10 18:43:18 UTC 2001


Dear Steve and IEists:

----- Original Message -----
From: <X99Lynx at aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 12:23 PM

<snip>

> And adopting a language may allow a group to share an advantage - like
> farming, animal husbandry or metallurgy or other technical knowledge.  And
> when we see that advantage spread quickly, we might conclude that a new,
> common language - like IE - made it possible.

[PCR]
I am picking up on your "new" idea.

To me, the likeliest scenario is that Caucasians, speaking a Caucasian language
with characteristics similar to Kabardian (reduced vowel inventory), came into
contact with speakers of a non-Semitic Afrasian language, adopted it (mangled
it, mostly); and that the northernmost group became Indo-Europeans, while the
southerners became Semites.

This scenario would explain why Semitic and IE are so close, share so many
characteristics, as opposed to the radical differences between these two and
the balance of Afrasian languages.

In a minor way history repeated itself in Egypt, where a non-Semitic Afrasian-
speaking group was invaded by Caucasian speakers, and mangled Afrasian in a
uniquely interesting way --- resulting in Egyptian.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE at email.msn.com (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th
St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE:
http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/ and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ec
at ec hecc, vindgá meiði a netr allar nío, geiri vndaþr . . . a þeim
meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn." (Hávamál 138)



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