Linguistics and Out-of-India model

[Bh. Krishnamurti]

Dear Jaco Baltuch:
You are right; I do not think any genuine Indian linguist buys the theory
that Sanskrit originated in India and travelled north and west. The
rejection of the Skt descent of Dravidian is over 100 years old, although
you occasionally  come across pseudo experts/traditional pundits who repeat
the abandoned theory, because they are not basicaly linguists. The other
kind, like Subrahmanya in the list, mistake aspects of convergence between
languages through contact as genetic phenomena. They have basically no idea
of how genetic relationships are established among languages. I do not think
Edwin Brynt is correct in saying that the main stream academia support the
theory that India was the homeland of IE.   Regards, Bh.K.


At 02:03 21/02/98 +0100, you wrote:
>One last question. Edwin Bryant wrote:
>
>>The Aryan invasion/migration theory is very widely rejected in India
>>(and I suspect from the tenor of one or two recent comments that some
>>members of this list have no idea how widespread this rejection is in
>>mainstream academic, and not just in right-wing or neo-Hindu, circles).
>
>Does this include most Indian linguists???
>
>I just can't imagine how one could learn
>proper modern linguistics if one's linguistic
>training included "theories" that Sanskrit
>was identical to PIE or that IA and Dravidian
>were close genetic relatives. That would
>be really something on a par with the Marr
>madness in Soviet linguistics. I do hope the
>answer is no.
>
>
end
Bh. Krishnamurti
H.No. 12-13-1233, "Bhaarati"
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Hyderabad 500 017, A.P.
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Telephone (R)(40)701 9665
E-mail: <bhk at HD1.VSNL.NET.IN>