Re: Ossetians and Pashto similarities

From: Peter T. Daniels (grammatim_at_worldnet.att.net)
Date: 09/05/04 

Date: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 19:34:40 GMT

alexV wrote:

> The language does have an absolutely undeniable genetic component.

No individual language anywhere in the world has any such thing.

The human capacity for language use is a genetic endowment. That's all.

> The
> trouble is: on the highest levels of perfection the language manifestations
> are so complicated that it is easily obscured by what they call
> "environmental" influences. For instance, an ethnic Japanese born in the
> USA. She is perhaps a fifth generation or more of Japanese Americans. She is
> a highly skilled professional. She speak flawless English. How come that her
> Japanese ancestry has not imprinted anything at all on the way she speaks,
> her accent or anything? That has to be explained.

The explanation is that "ancestry" doesn't have the slightest relevance
whatsoever to language.

> At the same time I am almost certain that the reason why some Amerindian
> children do not do too good in school is that their Broca's or Wernicke's
> areas are different from the mainstream American's and in essence cannot
> really adjust, although some are able to do it.

There isn't the slightest basis in fact for this "almost certain"ty.

I've no idea why this is being posted to Indian and Iranian groups, but
anyone reading it there should be aware that "alexV" is the worst sort
of racist -- the sort that doesn't realize that what he says is deeply
racist. He also seems impervious to instruction. 

-- 
Peter T. Daniels                       grammatim@att.net

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