Re: [ontolog-forum] 15,000-year-old ancestral language

[matthew lange <mclange@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> The article says  that 'bark' is a noun.

But based on the article, we still don't know if it is tree bark or (a) dog bark!

On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 9:50 PM, Barkmeyer, Edward J <edward.barkmeyer@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

Pat,

The article says  that 'bark' is a noun.

Beyond the pronouns, I would not attach too much significance to the handful of survivors of 15000 years of social change.  English alone tells us that the "half life" of important words can be significantly altered by social and military history.  Words of the conqueror will displace words of the conquered; words of the dominant trade people will displace words of the consumers.  Words for tools might change when you switch from stone to bronze.  Even words for eating might change when your diet changes.  (And in the latter half of the 20th century it became commonplace in our trade to re-invent the same old wheels every 5-10 years with a whole new set of terms to suggest that there was a "new" technology.  While that might be an egregious case, I'm sure it has happened in some form many times in 15000 years.)

-Ed

--
Edward J. Barkmeyer                       Email: edbark@xxxxxxxx
National Institute of Standards & Technology
Engineering Laboratory -- Systems Integration Division
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________________________________________
From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Patrick Cassidy [pat@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 11:16 PM
To: '[ontolog-forum] '
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] 15,000-year-old ancestral language

Interesting.  The word "bark" (or "barking") is not included in the Longman
defining vocabulary.
It is defined as "the sharp sound made by a dog" (all those words are in the
defining vocabulary), and as similar sounds.

This may be one of the semantic primitives missing from the Longman defining
vocabulary; though it can be "defined" (in the dictionary sense), the
understanding depends on the reader having had the perception experience of
hearing a dog bark.

I just added this to the COSMO ontology.  Thanks.


Pat


Patrick Cassidy
MICRA Inc.
cassidy@xxxxxxxxx
908-561-3416

To minimize effort, the list is reproduced here:

Thou
I
Not
That
We
To give
Who
This
What
Man/male
Ye
Old
Mother
To hear
Hand
Fire
To pull
Black
To flow
Bark
Ashes
To spit
Worm

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-
> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rich Cooper
> Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 5:30 PM
> To: '[ontolog-forum] '
> Subject: [ontolog-forum] 15,000-year-old ancestral language
>
> I found an article titled
>
> "Ultraconserved words point to deep language
> ancestry across Eurasia"
>
> That might be interesting to an occasional
> ontologist among us.  The URL is:
>
> http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/05/01/12187
> 26110.full.pdf+html
>
> It lists 23 words that are shared in a buncha
> modern languages, and the authors claim the 15,000
> year old dating through statistical analysis.
> They produce what they call a "Phylogenetic Tree
> of the Eurasiatic Language Superfamily".
>
> Are all 23 of these words in Cyc?
>
> Does anyone know if these words are part of Ana
> Wierzbicka's vocabulary of primitives to some
> degree?
>
> -Rich
>
> Sincerely,
> Rich Cooper
> EnglishLogicKernel.com
> Rich AT EnglishLogicKernel DOT com
> 9 4 9 \ 5 2 5 - 5 7 1 2
>
>
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