Comparative linguistics

[Robert Zydenbos]

Am Thu, 16 Mar 2000 schrieb Venkatraman Iyer:

> Contrary views on Linguistics by distinguished Professors.
>
> Prof. Gupt earlier:
> > [...] Aryan construct
> >served not only the colonial regime, it still serves the current
> >north-south divide.

Like the contributions of some other list members, this too reveals a
fundamental misunderstanding. The sentence *should* have read: "[The] Aryan
construct [may have] served not only the colonial regime [even if we do not
know how, and linguists are totally unaware of this, but] it still serves
[i.e., helps] [*to explain*] the current north-south divide [which already
existed for a very long time prior to the British period]."

Probably Prof. Gupt in Delhi is not a linguist, or if he is, he has not done
the basics of Dravidian studies (which in itself is no terrible sin, since
linguistics is a vast field with many specialisations. But for an Indian
linguist this would be strange). But by reading some old messages to this list
over the past few years, he and others can learn a little about the
'Madrasis' -- as everyone roughly south of Bombay is pejoratively called in
Delhi: and that is a divide that has not been caused by any activities of
modern linguists.

RZ