text_combined: open letter language behalf william c baxter victoria fromkin jane h hill larry hutchinson richard hudson michael b kac terence langendoen winfred p lehmann edgar c polome karl v teeter thomas wasow wish post following open letter language official journal lsa anybody else would like sign please contact alexis manaster ramer open letter language undersigned members linguistic society america work wide variety subfields theoretical orientations linguistics nevertheless come together urge language take notice work scholarship date received little discussion review work question late v illich svitych opyt sravnenija nostraticheskikh jazykov seems us considerable interest attaches theories distant linguistic relationships evidenced example ongoing controversy well reflected language amerind hypothesis methodological theoretical issues arise connection question whether relationships ever demonstrated whether illich svitych work ultimately turns right partly right utterly wrong simply incapable verification refutation believe reviewed since many us read russian able read work question aware number linguists field negative views work makes even important language publish review review article debate supporter opponent hypothesis suitable opportunity membership lsa existence work acknowledged issues raises vented open public scholarly fashion