Re: Khoisan is very old

On Apr 2, 8:49 pm, "jfm" <nss2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Darkstar skrev:



Clicks are archaic,

Based on what?



because this is a *unique* phonetic phenomenon
(leaving artificially created Damin aside) bound to a group which
*uniquely* archaic genetically (L1 is the oldest haplogroup on earth).
If a unique phenomenon coincides with a another unique phenomenon it's
a good idea to assume they're related,

The distributions of click sounds and the L1 haplogroup do not
coincide.

Do you agree that the two areas coincide by more than 90% as measured
against all inhabited world's surface? How much overlapping would you
need to believe two circles drawn on paper *do* overlap?

Southern African Bantu languages have borrowed clicks into
their phonological systems. How do you know that the so-called Khoisan
languages have not?

Have not borrowed them from an unknown source which borrowed them from
Jupiter? Have you ever heard of Occam's razor? That simple solutions
stand better chances?

There's nothing to suggest that clicks are any more archaic than, say,
[k] or [p] or [s]. In fact, it is much more probable that "ordinary"
consonants are more archaic than clicks. But, lacking any sensible
theories about the degree of archaicness in sounds, there's simply
just no way of telling.

To me, western linguistics (if you pardon this generalization) seems
to be plagued with that overly skeptical we-know-nothin'/you-never-can-
tell attitude. Maybe it's time to put on your thinking cap and just
start "telling"? Or would that be too much of a challenge?

Assuming Bushmen and their languages to be more archaic than other
people/languages is just a bad stereotype, one based on the ill-
adviced (and obsolete) assumption that Bushmen are either "noble
savages" or "human relics of the past".

---
jfmaho

If Bushmen look "archaic" based on many well-proven facts, I call them
"relics of the past". If something walks like a duck... Simplicity is
the first rule. Don't build up ad-hoc theories where you can manage
without them.

.