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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2006-08 > 1155094187


From: CherylSimani <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] re Ethan's history of IE
Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 20:29:47 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <200608090215.k792FtbD016098@lists5.rootsweb.com>


However, there are similarities between reconstructed

Proto-Indo-European and Sumerian. Here are at least 100 examples:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9609a&L=linguist&P=1376

Those similarities demand explanation, and the explanation that I, for

one, find persuasive is that they are loanwords, borrowed from Sumerian to

PIE, though there are alternate explanations. Other similarities suggest

that PIE borrowed words from Proto-Semitic. Taken together, with other

considerations, these observations support arguments for an Anatolian

homeland of the Indo-European family, which is the reason I brought

them up yesterday, not to pounce on the Sumerians.

**

Sorry about the “pouncing” bit, I sometimes get carried away. And yes, I was reading Balkans for your Baltic – but the point about Alexander still stands true.

Sumerian remained the official language long after the Akkadians took control of the lowlands. On the other hand, Akkadian became the international language from about 2000 BCE until it was replaced with Aramaic during the Assyrio-Babylonian period. Aramaic continued to dominate the region through the early Persian and Parthian periods (until 243 CE). It is possible that a few Sumerian words were passed down through the ages.

Linguistics is a tricky business. One very real problem is that words from different languages may have the same sound and muddy-the-water. For instance in comparing Biblical Hebrew to English - he means she, who means he, me means who, and hello means - is it not so.



Cheryl Simani

hbnhx kfhn


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