Roger Mills wrote:
> Herman Miller wrote:
> >Actually it's Mbabaram whose word for "dog" is /dog/; Dyirbal is a related
> >language, but its word for "dog" IIRC is /guda/. >
>
> Is it possible the Mbabaram, for unknown reasons, have simply borrowed the
> Engl. word??
I know of no reason to suppose that they did. Chance identity of sound and
meaning happens all the time. The Persian word for English 'bad' is /b&d/ --
pronounced exactly the same. Yet historical linguists have shown that it comes
from an entirely separate IE root (which I don't have with me at the moment).
> Two possible Austronesian words vs. several hundred Australian langs.
> doesn't seem to be a very compelling percentage.
Exactly.
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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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