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Re: inalienable possession

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Thursday, November 19, 1998, 7:06
At 15:46 18/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Christophe Grandsire wrote: >> Yes, at present, they just don't exist. That doesn't mean that=
they
>> can't exist, or that they never existed (maybe a language now extinct >> without any descendor had a split-nominative like Sally's one). Who=
knows?
>> There are only 5000 languages all over the world, and certainly millions >> (perhaps an infinity) of systems that could be languages. So it's normal=
for
>> me to think that everything is possible. > >Okay, granted some unattested systems quite possibly existed somewhere, >but not all. I seriously doubt that a center-embedding system could >exist, the human brain simply can't handle it. I'm confident that there >*are* systems that simply can't exist in human languages. Perhaps some >that we think are impossible are actually possible, but I don't think >that every unattested system is possible. The human brain can only >process certain types of systems. >
What if our brain evolves? (just kidding)
>-- >"It has occured to me more than once that holy boredom is good and >sufficient reason for the invention of free will." - "Lord Leto II" >(Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert) >http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/X-Files/ >ICQ #: 18656696 >AOL screen-name: NikTailor > >
Christophe Grandsire |Sela Jemufan Atlinan C.G. "R=E9sister ou servir" homepage: http://www.bde.espci.fr/homepage/Christophe.Grandsire/index.html