Re: Contemporaneous protolanguages

On Sep 26, 2004, at 8:44 PM, Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> From:    Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
>> Quoting "Thomas R. Wier" <trwier@...>:
>>> My understanding is that PAA is usually situated far to the South,
>>> somewhere near the Red Sea.  It's clear that Akkadian started
>>> arriving from southward into Sumerian-speaking lands, and the
>>> overall center of gravity of PAA is along the Red Sea, but other
>>> than these facts I don't know anything very specific about it.
>> From southward? What I've read of Mesopotamian history rather seemed
>> to suggest they came from the north or west; what evidence is there to
>> allow us to tell, anyway?
> I'm just reporting what Gene Gragg here at the Oriental Institute
> told me.  He works on precisely Afro-Asiatic linguistics,
> especially Southern Semitic languages like Ge'ez, and Cushitic
> and Omotic languages.  Like I said, I don't know the details behind
> the argument. (He also teaches courses on Hurrian, which is the
> context in which I got to know him best.) I can email him for the
> details if you like.
> Here's his website:
> <http://humanities.uchicago.edu/depts/nelc/facultypages/gragg/
> index.html>
I think it was in _Guns, Germs and Steel_ by Jared Diamond where i read
that it makes sense for the Semitic-speakers to have come from the
South, since the vast majority (and greatest variety) of Afro-Asiatic
languages are in Northern Africa.


-Stephen (Steg)
  'the creator thought that one language would be enough,
   but Raven thought differently, and made many.'
      ~ the bella coola, according to hyde
        (thanks hanuman! ;) )

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