Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin Riley" <klriley AT alphalink.com.au>]

-------Original Message------- 
 
From: JAMES CHRISTIAN READ 
Date: 20/08/2007 6:19:29 PM 
 
Hi Isaac, 
 
Any theory that attempts to account for language by its 
Building blocks is worth considering. Language is, after 
All, a combinatorial process. Morphemes + roots = words, 
Words + more words = meaningful clauses. Clauses + more 
Clauses = meaningful sentences. Sentences + more 
Sentences = meaningful paragraphs. Paragraphs + more 
Paragraphs = a story. So it would make sense that a 
Primitive languages' phonemes had conceptual meaning of 
Their own which could be combined to express more 
Meaningful concepts. 
 
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The main problem with this theory is probably that there is no evidence that
"primitive" languages did indeed work this way.  Going back in most
languages I know of just leads to equally complex languages.  So where do we
find these primitive languages against which to test the theory.
 
Kevin Riley