LINGUIST List 5.916

Tue 23 Aug 1994

Disc: Altaic

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  • Ecological Linguistics,Anderson,PRT, Re: 5.911 Altaic
  • , Altaic (References)

    Message 1: Re: 5.911 Altaic

    Date: 22 Aug 94 01:28 GMT
    From: Ecological Linguistics,Anderson,PRT <ECOLINGapplelink.apple.com>
    Subject: Re: 5.911 Altaic


    A question on Ainu (I have not read the article referred to here:)

    >The latest work on Ainu (Alexander Vovin, "The origins of the >Ainu language", Panasiatic Linguistics, II: 672-685, Bangkok, >and his just published book "A Reconstruction of Proto-Ainu") >conclusively, to my mind, refute the idea that AInu might be >Altaic and suggest a relationship with Austroasiatic that is >at least suggestive.

    I recently became aware that some people regard the Ainu as the southernmost representatives of the North-Pacific culture area. Culture is not the same as language, but I wonder whether Vovin or others have considered Luorawetlan or Na-Dene or Haida or other possible northern connections for Ainu?

    Does it look less likely?

    Thanks for any hints, Lloyd Anderson

    Message 2: Altaic (References)

     Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 07:48:50 EDAltaic (References)
    From: <amrjupiter.cs.wayne.edu>
    Subject: Altaic (References)


    I was asked to supply some of the references to my discussion.

    Krueger, John R. "Altaic linguistic reconstruction and culture" Current Trends in Ling. 11, 569-581 (1973).

    Miller, Roy Andrew. "Genetic connections among the Altaic languages". In: Sprung from Some Common Source (ed. S. Lamb & E. D. Mitchell), 293-327. Stanford (1991)

    Vovin, Alexander. 1994. "Long-distance relationships, reconstruction methodology, and the origins of Japanese". Diachronica 11:95-114.

    ------. 1993. A Reconstruction of Proto-Ainu. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

    There also some brief discussion of the frivolous opposition to Altaic in my

    "On Illich-Svitych's Nostratic theory", Studies in Lang 17:205-250 (1993)

    and there should be more in my

    "Nostratic, An outsider's view", to appear in Nostratic: Evidence and Status (ed. B. Joseph and J. Salmons), Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

    --------- I can provide additional refs if anybody needs them. For thise who just one or two things to read, I would recommend either Krueger or Miller on the general Altaic question, and Vovin 1994 on Japanese.