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--- In westasianconlangs@yahoogroups.com, Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...> wrote: > > > On Apr 13, 2007, at 5:57 PM, habarakhe4 wrote: > > > I finished reading "The Unfolding of Language". Why I'm posting here > > is that it has a coherent explanation of a (the?) theory of the > > development of the Semitic root, which seems so artificial. > > > What is its explanation? > > > -Stephen (Steg) > I liked that explanation, too. (Although I don't share Theophilus's feeling that the triconsonantal root system of Semitic verbs- etc. "seems artificial".) But remember that Guy Deutscher said that explanation contained a lot of guesswork; it is consistent with what is known, and employs mechanisms similar to some that have been seen to operate in other languages, and particularly in Semitic languages, in historical times. So it has a chance of being right; but Prof. Deutscher wouldn't be surprised if it weren't.