"Despite the advanced state of civilization evident in the earliest Aryan tongues, [and] despite other scientific evidence, old biblical prejudices and presumptuous enthusiasm caused people to believe that they had discovered the birth of language if not the creation of man. . . . They therefore declared that primitive Aryan was monosyllabic and consisted exclusively of roots. Monsieur de Saussure’s theory of disyllabic roots, useful as it is for explaining previously obscure forms, has today foundered on this unshakable prejudice.’"