Karud: the weapon that did not exist:-)

Bob A · 25th August 2017, 05:15 PM

The difficulty in actually ascertaining the vocabulary, context and usage of "villagers" renders most discussion more or less moot, in the absence of records or actual persons who embody the reality of a past time.

Linguistic research is limited to either written records by early Europeans, who may or may not have actually encountered contemporary examples of then-current usage, or scouring "native" records, with attendant problems of transliteration and focus - those who had the skill and opportunity to write of the subject were likely viewing it from a socio-cultural position far from that of the originators of the objects in question.

Ultimately a problem may arise when the usage of scholars branches away from that used in commerce and informal collection.

I fully embrace the search for truth, while reaining aware that it may only be approached asymptotically. The past is perforce a closed book, which we may approach cautiously and carefully, or embrace with commercial vigor, with all the inaccuracy and hype that entails.

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25th August 2017, 05:15 PM	#11
Bob A Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 436	The difficulty in actually ascertaining the vocabulary, context and usage of "villagers" renders most discussion more or less moot, in the absence of records or actual persons who embody the reality of a past time. Linguistic research is limited to either written records by early Europeans, who may or may not have actually encountered contemporary examples of then-current usage, or scouring "native" records, with attendant problems of transliteration and focus - those who had the skill and opportunity to write of the subject were likely viewing it from a socio-cultural position far from that of the originators of the objects in question. Ultimately a problem may arise when the usage of scholars branches away from that used in commerce and informal collection. I fully embrace the search for truth, while reaining aware that it may only be approached asymptotically. The past is perforce a closed book, which we may approach cautiously and carefully, or embrace with commercial vigor, with all the inaccuracy and hype that entails.