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From: alderson@netcom.com (Richard M. Alderson III)
Subject: Re: Ruhlen's Origin of Language
In-Reply-To: anticipada@aol.com's message of 29 Nov 1994 17:30:07 -0500
Message-ID: <aldersonD0EpC0.EKt@netcom.com>
Reply-To: alderson@netcom.com
Fcc: /u52/alderson/postings
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <3bga1f$mqe@newsbf01.news.aol.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 20:38:23 GMT
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In article <3bga1f$mqe@newsbf01.news.aol.com> anticipada@aol.com (Anticipada)
writes:

>This book is an offering for the Quality Paperback Book Club this month - I
>was wondering if anyone had read it/heard anything about it and what they
>thought...

I've read it.

It is an inaccurate ("near-libelous" comes to mind) portrayal of how historical
linguists approach issues of deep genetic relationship.

It purports to demonstrate a series of relations among language families of the
world which are not supported by the data presented.  Further, the rejection of
these relationships by "professional linguists" [NB:  Those are *Ruhlen's*
scare quotes, not mine--rma] is countered by an appeal to the common sense of
the reader, with the strong implication that the "professional linguists" have
an agenda behind their rejection.  To paraphrase, "You can see that these must
be related because of superficial resemblances, so why can't they...?"

Not recommended.
-- 
Rich Alderson   You know the sort of thing that you can find in any dictionary
                of a strange language, and which so excites the amateur philo-
                logists, itching to derive one tongue from another that they
                know better: a word that is nearly the same in form and meaning
                as the corresponding word in English, or Latin, or Hebrew, or
                what not.
                                                --J. R. R. Tolkien,
alderson@netcom.com                               _The Notion Club Papers_
