Re: CHAT: oldest known records of vernacular languages [was Re:

Steg Belsky scripsit:

> Hmmm... no idea... but why does it have to be secular writing?
Because the whole point is to exclude "scriptures" of various kinds,
whether specifically religious or not, since the study of these can
go on for centuries after ordinary writing has ceased.  Ge'ez and
Coptic are still studied because they are used for religious writings
in the Ethiopic and Egyptian Christian churches respectively, and people
may even still write in them for such purposes, but for all ordinary
purposes they are dead in both written and spoken form.

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_