Re: Subcontinental Language Isolates

Eamon Graham scripsit:

> The first is Burushashki which I have quite a bit of linguistic info
> but nothing really about the history.
It's not a written language, so we (= civilization) really know nothing
about its history.  Since it's an isolate, normal reconstruction does not
have anything to work on, and internal reconstruction is very limited.

> The other two are Bhatola and Nihali.  I found a Swadesh list for
> Nihali but nothing else.  I'm not even quite sure what Bhatola is,
> if it is in fact a language isolate or if I got some bogus info.
Ethnologue information for Nihali at:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=NHL

The Ethnologue labels Bhatola as "Unclassified", which means
that not enough information is available to establish its genetic
affiliation.  Indeed, the only fact they report is that it is spoken in
Madhya Pradesh state in India.

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan      jcowan@reutershealth.com
Be yourself.  Especially do not feign a working knowledge of RDF where
no such knowledge exists.  Neither be cynical about RELAX NG; for in
the face of all aridity and disenchantment in the world of markup,
James Clark is as perennial as the grass.  --DeXiderata, Sean McGrath

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