"Every attempt, then, to give absolute dates for 'Proto-Indo-European' (or dates for alleged different stages of'PIE') is either based on the speculative identification of an archaeological culture with the speakers of the 'language of the PIE's' (e.g. Gimbutas, Renfrew, Mallory) or on what may be called 'intelligent guesses,' deliberations of probability and feelings of appropriateness (e.g. Meid, Gamkrelidze-Ivanov)" (372). ... "The first type of proposal is usually contested by fellow archaeologists and doubted by linguists, the second, being purely subjective because objective arguments simply do not exist, is bound to remain noncommittal. As is easily to be seen, many dates of both types have found their way to an often far too skeptical public."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Zimmer, Stefan. 1988. "On Dating Indo-European: A Call for Honesty." Journal of Indo-European Studies 16:371-375. 372-5 Zimmer (1988), quoted in Bryant, E. F. (2001). The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture : the Indo-Aryan migration debate. Oxford University Press. chapter 12
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zimmer
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Stefan Zimmer
5 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Stefan Zimmer →
Related Quotes
"It must be stressed, and cannot be said often enough, that whatever date is given for 'PIE,' it is necessarily no mor…"
"It is therefore historically irresponsible for the linguist to speak of 'Proto-Indo-European' in the 4th millen- nium…"
"The horse was well known by the Proto-Indo-Europeans, as best proven by several poetic formulas mentioning the 'swift…"
"Zimmer (1990a) points out that the inference that the horse was known to the Indo-Europeans is primarily based on suc…"
"Though Bopp, by the end of his life, was an internationally respected and honored scholar, his was not a career witho…"
"They would not have it, they would not believe that there could be any community of origin between the people of Athe…"
"For what is more important and can be desired more urgently from the study of classical languages than the comparison…"
"Since the discovery of the Indus civilization … it has been almost universally accepted that the Sumerians immigrated…"
"Lexical borrowing was unidirectional, from Indo-European to Uralic."
"Von Soden observes that “since the discovery of the Indus civilization … it has been almost universally accepted that…"