Nostratic

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File: 1456900909785.png (766.35 KB, 3559x2636, 3559:2636, NostraticLanguageTree.png)

Nostratic Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 06:41:49 f28abb No.35666

What's /his/s consensus on Nostratic? Could it have been real, or is digging that far back into our linguistic past just a waste of time?

Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 07:38:16 e2d72d No.35670

>>35666

>Could it have been real

Well if a common language never existed, this would imply humans have developed speech several times separately. I'm not sure if such an assumption makes sense.

>or is digging that far back into our linguistic past just a waste of time?

For now it certainly is; we haven't even reconstructed the protolanguages of various language families well enough. And with only a few languages available on Caucasus as the endpoint reference, I don't think we ever will.

Once you go that far back, the rate of false cognates goes over the roof.

Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 07:52:27 1a3225 No.35671

>>35670

>Well if a common language never existed, this would imply humans have developed speech several times separately.

A common language probably existed – more than 100000 years ago. Hebrew.

According to Wikipedia Nostratic should have been spoken 17000-14000 years ago though.

>For now it certainly is… I don't think we ever will.

This. And to be honest how useful would it be? It's not like we'll ever find a Nostratic tablet that can be translated and confirm our hypothesis.

Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 08:27:42 e2d72d No.35672

>>35671

There's another thing beside false cognates though btw — loanwords; I actually believe most of links Nostratic tries to make is actually wild loanwords that spread like memes.

Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 09:03:57 221e9c No.35673

>>35666

Where are Basque and Sino-Tibetan?

Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 22:07:36 790dbe No.35693

There is literally no evidence or it.

Anonymous 03/02/16 (Wed) 23:11:10 4d061c No.35700

>>35693

Pretty much, Occhams Razor does jack all in this situation as well.

Anonymous 03/09/16 (Wed) 19:53:22 496ed2 No.35928

YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.

If this is what it sounded like, then it was a pretty cool language.

Anonymous 03/09/16 (Wed) 21:04:51 b27314 No.35932

File: 1457557491298.webm (6.32 MB, 800x450, 16:9, 1457447861624-0.webm)

>>35671

>It's not like we'll ever find a Nostratic tablet that can be translated and confirm our hypothesis.

That's far from certain

It doesn't take that much for written language (some sacral hieroglyph bullshit) to develop, it's more a question of retaining it where there's sparse application for it.

Let's say there was a place with plentiful food for a while, developed a priest class jewing for free meals and trinkets for a while and a moonrune system to go with it, then it all collapsed and since everyone else was still very dispersed hunter-gatherer with pointy sticks there was no application for writing and it died out…

>mfw tomorrow news breaks of a 40-fucking-000 year old Rosetta Stone analogue

I'm feeling lucky.

Anonymous 03/10/16 (Thu) 00:13:49 1a3225 No.35949

>>35932

>That's far from certain

An actually written record from 14000 years ago (weird scratches that may or may not be pre-proto-quasi-writing don't count)? I'd have a heart attack if we found one half as old. It could happen… but no, it will never happen.

>Let's say there was literally Atlantis.

Uhm, okay, let's say there was. Even if we miraculously found an Atlantean library we couldn't read anything, since it wouldn't be related to any other writing system.

Anonymous 03/10/16 (Thu) 09:57:02 b27314 No.35957

File: 1457603822883.gif (485.22 KB, 272x251, 272:251, 1456828360647.gif)

>>35949

>An actually written record from 14000 years ago (weird scratches that may or may not be pre-proto-quasi-writing don't count)? I'd have a heart attack if we found one half as old. It could happen… but no, it will never happen.

But we already found that, you doofus. 8000 year old coo coo script in the balkans.

Clutch your chest, time to die.

>we couldn't read anything, since it wouldn't be related to any other writing system

One side text, one side drawn porn rosetta stone analogue. Imagine.

Anonymous 03/10/16 (Thu) 11:52:10 e2d72d No.35960

File: 1457610731553.jpg (10.77 KB, 326x125, 326:125, 2014-08-14-JiahuSymbols.jpg)

>>35957

>weird scratches that may or may not be pre-proto-quasi-writing don't count

also

>implying vinča symbols are the oldest weird scratches known

Anonymous 03/10/16 (Thu) 23:51:18 1a3225 No.35976

File: 1457653878230.png (1.12 MB, 585x750, 39:50, don't be silly.png)

>>35957

>8000 year old coo coo script in the balkans

>Vinča symbols

>script

It's almost as if I didn't specify that proto-bullshit like that doesn't count. It doesn't tell anything about actual language and it's still from a Neolithic culture.

But then I should have known that animated oracle bone reaction images = ADD :^)