Re: A China-Sumer connection

From: Comm (tjsrno_at_spampost.com)
Date: 03/06/05 

Date: Sun, 06 Mar 2005 09:26:11 GMT

<a.manansala@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:1110084586.540023.191740@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>
> phippsmartin@hotmail.com wrote:
>> Comm wrote:
>>
>> The basic problem I see is that people living in cities have schools
>> but people travelling on the land or on boats only have oral
>> traditions. Worse, nomadic people are unlikely to know -or care-
> about
>> agriculture because it isn't part of their way of life.
>
> History tells us that nomadic people tend to settle down when the
> conditions are right. For example, successful Turko-Mongol conquerors
> and their people often became city-dwellers.

Same page. I just said similar. What I find **amazing** is that I'm
getting the idea that you know this from studying ancient people, not living
people that DO this. Paul, I know this from my own LIVING formerly nomadic
relatives and others in whole community! See what I posted to Mr. Phillips.
I'm stupid, I speak only English. I can't even seem to learn Spanish - I
tried (I resent having to do that - but I with I could speak it) - I end up
just memorizing words. What I find amazing is that my older formerly
nomadic relatives (nomads in their earliest years) THINK in these
languages - they really speak the languages like natives. They THINK in that
language - and these many languages they speak are not related to each other
at all. I can't even imagine what that's like! Well, wait. OK, I can
curse in Tatar, LOL - and I'm not mentally translating. I can also curse in
Italian, Russian and Spanish. LOL. Well, you get an idea just what we
heard growing up with some other ethnic groups around - considering we
**HAD** to learn English or - not be citizens here (which btw I think is
right, correct and normal). I remember the Italians too. The kids spoke
English - nothing else - pathetic Italian if they could even do that. But
many of the parents, like my husband's Grandfather (his dad was born here,
English only speaker) spoke 3 languages. French, Italian and Yiddish.
>
> The Nusantao modulated between semi-permanent and permanent settlements
> and eventually became sedentary building elaborate tombs.

Tatars never really became sedentary - at least my relatives never did, not
even under Stalin. They learned to read and write tho - using two different
alphabets (Latin and Cyrillic). Learn or go to Gulag :) uh, I mean :(
People from Turkey? They speak nothing but Turkish and English (the ones
here). My Uzbeki cousins have been all over the place, they are also fluent
in unrelated languages. It is the sedentary people that speak one language,
or maybe two, one not so good. It's the nomads that speak on average in my
old community SIX languages - unrelated languages - and they think in those
languages. I'm not here talking about people that study language in order
to learn them. NONE of my relatives did that, not ever.

So my living example refutes all of this.
>
>> This reminds me of another problem: language. How could Turks or
>> Austronesians communicate easily with both Sumers and Chinese?
>
> My belief is that this was the major impetus for early proto-scripts.

Yup, but also consider what I said - and I don't need archaeology to know
what I said. Living people! Do you ever notice that when you are driving
70 mph on a highway, a sign that whizzes by and shows a curvy line gets into
your brain and reflexes a lot faster than a sign that says in words
"dangerous curve ahead?" I do. It's instantaneous - it's not even
thinking. My mind doesn't think "oh, curve." Nope. It's instantaneous and
most important of all - it is NON VERBAL - it affects the non verbal parts
of the brain - the foot moves to the brake instantly. Speed limit signs get
in fast too - they are symbols - numbers. 35. 55. But the words "no left
turn" don't get in nearly as fast as a sign with a left arrow and cross out.
Pictograms! Non verbal. Modern people got out of the habit of using
pictograms in favor of the phonetic alphabet.
>
> Pictographs convey the same meaning and allow people to learn each
> other's words. They also provide a protocol for trade transactions.
> That may be why many of these marks appear on pottery.
>
> Regards,
> Paul Kekai Manansala
> http://sambali.blogspot.com/
>

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A China-Sumer connection
    ... relatives speak on average 6 ... languages - fluently - and they are unrelated languages. ... learned English in a year. ... It's the nomads that are fluent in the ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: A China-Sumer connection
    ... relatives speak on average 6 ... languages - fluently - and they are unrelated languages. ... learned English in a year. ... It's the nomads that are fluent in the ...
    (sci.anthropology)
  • Re: A China-Sumer connection
    ... relatives speak on average 6 ... languages - fluently - and they are unrelated languages. ... learned English in a year. ... It's the nomads that are fluent in the ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: A China-Sumer connection
    ... getting the idea that you know this from studying ancient people, not living ... I'm stupid, I speak only English. ... languages - they really speak the languages like natives. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: A China-Sumer connection
    ... getting the idea that you know this from studying ancient people, not living ... I'm stupid, I speak only English. ... languages - they really speak the languages like natives. ...
    (sci.anthropology)