"‘the notion of “context-sensitive-rule” was not […] recognized as such in Western linguistics until the twentieth century, whereas it had been discovered in India before 500 BCE […] We can now assert, with the power of hindsight, that Indian linguists in the fifth century BCE knew and understood more than Western linguists in the nineteenth century CE. Can one not extend this conclusion and claim that it is probable that Indian linguists are still ahead of their Western colleagues and may continue to be so in the next century?’ (Staal 1988: 48)"
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Frits Staal
Johan Frederik "Frits" Staal (3 November 1930 – 19 February 2012) was the department founder and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South/Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Staal specialized in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras, and the scientific exploration of ritual and mysticism. He was also a scholar of Greek and Indian logic and philosophy and Sanskrit grammar.
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