Re: FYI re: Greenberg's Universals

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
> The "controversial" was what I meant by "next best thing."  Sorry.  :-p
> I've heard several theories on Japanese and Korean and where they fit
> into the world's languages, but my understanding was that no one really
> had a consensus.
It's been my impression that the Japanese-Korean connection is pretty
well-accepted, it's just theories about where they fit in regards to
other languages that's controversial.  Or am I completely wrong here?

> I'm not sure what's meant by a long-distance anaphor.  How is "I wish
> John gave myself a present" different from "I wish John gave me a
> present"?  <hoping for enlightenment>
That was my wondering, too.

> And as for numbers--there are
> two number systems, and I know one's from Chinese (il, i, sam, sa, o,
> yuk, ch'il, p'al, ku, sip)
Japanese does the same thing.

> ObConLang: letter-writing protocols in conlangs?
Hmm ... I'd never given that any thought.  Letters wouldn't be very
common, as there's no formal postal system.  You'd probably just wait
until you found someone who was heading to the place you wanted to send
your letter to to give it to him/her, most likely one of the Traders.

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