Mormons: Why aren't there other examples of "Reformed Egyptian" in Ancient America?

Question

Why doesn't a linguistical relationship exist between any native American language and ancient Egyptian or Hebrew?

Love Yahoo: All I want is some answers. I am not bashing your beliefs. Why can't you just answer the question? Read this question and answer it if you would......
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Avwum75OSA5zBPI7pn1ATEzsy6IX?qid=20070702223227AAASIQv

Answer 1

This has been a question that I have asked nearly from the beginning. The number of answers that I got to this from Mormons and elders is bewildering. All of them are "smoke screens" that draw attention away from this very question and need you to look at Hebrew that may have been carved into rocks in Central America or something else.
Another thing that you need to understand is the culture of the times in the USA and how many others have claimed to pull things out of the hill in some lost language that they just happened to be able to translate.

Answer 2

It appears that "Reformed Egyptian" was a special language reserved for the writing of sacred manuscripts. The ordinary people in the Book of Mornon did not know or use "Reformed Egyptian." So it is not surprising that we have not found other examples of that language in America.

As for the other part of your question, no linguistic relationship could be expected between any native American language and Egyptian because the people of the Book of Mormon did not speak Egyptian.

That leaves the question of why no linguistic relationship exists between a native American language and Hebrew. Are you certain this is the case? I've heard of many relationships. Can you cite a reliable source to verify that there is no relationship between some native American language and Hebrew?

You should also consider the fact that the Book of Mornon does not claim that the sole inhabitants of America were Hebrew speaking. We know that many different people have come to America, bringing with them their native languages. There were doubtless some intermingling of the tribes. I think you will find that while some words or linguistic patterns in native American languages seem to be related to languages other than Hebrew, Hebrew as an influence cannot be ruled out entirely.

Answer 3

Because language changes over time. I know someone on here already said that the english we use today is different from what it was when the country was founded. It's true. We have words now they didn't have then, we also use dialect and emphasis different. So, if it can happen so quickly to us, why not to another civilization?

I'm sure there was inter-marriage between tribes, and the original language could have been lost. Not only that, but there are many languages in the world, so why don't they all have the same roots?? Maybe the tower of Babel can explain it!

Answer 4

My thought is that after the Nephites were killed off (and really even before they were ALL killed) the language went through many transitions as the tribes were formed. Over the thousand years or so that passed before the New World was "discovered" by Europeans, it would be possible that the blood thirsty Lamenites could have finished destroying all Nephite buildings and anything else that may have had their characters written on them. Let's not forget that the Aztecs, Incans and Myans were more than a little blood thirsty when Cortez and the others "found" them.

Answer 5

It seems curious that of all the residents of Jerusalem, only one family (the Lehi-Laban clan) seems to have developed a sophisticated written linguistic system shared by no one else in 600 BC. It is also curious that Laban seems to have an updated genealogy, plus all the OT books compiled before the Septuagint was assembled (in Greek), and engraved on Brass Plates, a metal alloy not yet developed. Laban evidently had connections, and it was a bloody (?) shame Nephi smoted the guy. He was a technical and linguistic genius of the era. He will be missed.

So I guess the answer is 'Why doe BS stink? Because it's BS.'

Answer 6

I am completely befuddled by the crap excuses that the LDS have given on here, and the things they are capable of convincing themselves. The example of English changing to American English is BS...the point is that we can still tell that it is ENGLISH. Linguists can trace languages back very far, thousands of years, to determine if they are Asian, Indo-European, Germanic, Semitic, etc. Not a single Native American tribe has a language even remotely close to any Semitic language. Most linguists would argue that syntactic and phonetic patterns of Native American languages can be related to Asian languages. So my main point is that even if languages change over the course of thousands and thousands of years, there are still subtleties that exist to point to a language's origins.

Answer 7

This would be because languages change. EXAMPLE:

English is a living language. When my ancestors left England 300 years ago, they spoke much differently than we do, or how they do in England now. And that was ONLY 300 years. You are talking about changes in languages over 2000 years. Just like English in America and English in England started out being the same, they are no longer the same language. Give it another 1700 years and we will need interpreters. Ok, maybe not because of modern technology and communication, but they did not have those advantages back then and the languages changed over the centuries!!!

Answer 8

I'd like to bet Hugh Nibley has written something that would answer all your questions. Personally I think I'll take a little time out from answering questions and start reading up on his books myself. He wrote enough to keep us all busy for at least a year. Have a happy day, and I send you a gummy bear.

Answer 9

Short answer: Because the Book of Mormon is a crass and obvious fraud.

The non-mormon bible was cobbled together, censored and mistranslated hundereds of years after the death of Jesus.

A person can always see the nonsense in every religious tradition except their own.

It may be hard, but I'd recommend taking a long hard look at ALL religious dogma. If you come to the conclusion that it is all b.s. Don't fear. You are not alone.

Answer 10

The story of the Tower of Babel is in your holy book and you're giving the Mormons crap because their holy book is contradicted by historical linguistics?