Non-IE loans

[George Thompson]

It appears that it will be necessary to entertain a brief discussion of the
principles of argument formation with Dr. Elst, since, according to the
principles that I have learned to abide by, it is generally assumed that
principle propositions are to be found in principle clauses, whereas what one
finds in parentheses are, well, parenthetical. If Dr. Elst operates according
to a different set of principles of argument formation, perhaps he should
inform the list so as to avoid future misunderstandings.

In any case, I count it as a positive step forward that Dr. Elst has conceded
that principle point, that is, that there are indeed hundreds of loan words
in the RV.

As for his parenthetical point, I will make one observation: it appears to me
that there is considerably less "Vedic astronomy" in the RV than there is in
later Vedic. So the fact that there appears to be little borrowing from
Dravidian in this context seems to be counter-balanced by the fact that there
is relatively little astronomy, period.  I myself am not committed to a
particular point of view re the origins of "Vedic astronomy", since it has
never seemed to me a terribly important matter in the RV. Perhaps this
reflects a bias on my part.  But perhaps it reflects a certain bias in the
text of the RV itself.  As for deciding this question, I think that it can't
be done without a careful reading of the relevant texts.

The point about *ku'bhA* is that it appears to be a non-IE word referring to
a river located in the far western portion of the relevant area.  It is
interesting as evidence of the presence of *other languages besides IA and
Dravidian* present in this area at the time of the RV.  See Michael Witzel's
recent discussion, published [I think: I've seen it only in ms] in the
Deshpande/Bronkhorst volume recently mentioned.

Finally, I'd like to see evidence *from the RV* [please, not from Rajaram! no
secondary sources!] confirming Dr. Elst's suggestion that the Indus Valley is
the IE homeland. And please let us know which translation of the RV is being
used.

Thanks in advance,

George Thompson