Jochen Lueg <jl@spamnet.co.uk> wrote in news:4dadccf657jl@spamnet.co.uk: > In article <Xns96D8E624DF36elektrosmdonet@81.174.12.30>, > Alun L. Palmer <elektros@yahoo.com> wrote: >> Jochen Lueg <jl@spamnet.co.uk> wrote in >> news:4dac3d393fjl@spamnet.co.uk: > >> >> > > >> I'll now confuse things by replying twice to the same post! Looking at >> it another way, mitocondrial DNA would trace the female line, but the >> problem is that the written records follow the male lines. > >> Anyway, if the latest DNA study says that the Hibernians are really >> Iberians, this does actually fit with the oldest traditions. Of >> course, the part of the traditional view that says we are all >> descendents of Milesius himself is rather hard to swallow, but can >> just be seen as an over- simplification. Also, it does make the Irish >> language rather hard to explain, as it is undoubtedly celtic. > > > Culture is often unconnected with the roots of language. Look at the > different cultures within the Indo European group of languages. Do we > know what language was spoken in along the Iberian coast? It can't have > been a relation of the present language as that had to wait for the > Romans. > > Jochen > That's a good point. Spanish is basically vulgar latin plus a little arabic. Doubtless the ancient Iberians spoke some other tongue altogether.