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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
How should I interpret this?
I came up with the following sentence while I was reading Jared Diamond's Guns, germs, and steel:
Not until about 30,000 years later (13,000 years ago) is there strong evidence of watercraft anywhere else in the world, from the Mediterranean. (p. 41)
I guess that the above sentence means either (i) or (ii) in the below. Which is correct?
(i) There is no strong evidence of watercraft until about 13,000 years ago in the world. But one strong evidence appeared from the Mediterranean about 13,000 years ago for the first time in the history.
(ii) There is no strong evidence of watercraft around the world until 13,000 years ago, except the Meditteranean. There is some strong evidence of watercraft even before about 13,000 years ago from the Mediterranean, though not from anywhere else.
It will really appreciated if you could tell me which is the correct interpretation or if you could tell me any more appropriate interpretation of this sentence if there is. Thank you in advance.
TA
Not until about 30,000 years later (13,000 years ago) is there strong evidence of watercraft anywhere else in the world, from the Mediterranean. (p. 41)
I guess that the above sentence means either (i) or (ii) in the below. Which is correct?
(i) There is no strong evidence of watercraft until about 13,000 years ago in the world. But one strong evidence appeared from the Mediterranean about 13,000 years ago for the first time in the history.
(ii) There is no strong evidence of watercraft around the world until 13,000 years ago, except the Meditteranean. There is some strong evidence of watercraft even before about 13,000 years ago from the Mediterranean, though not from anywhere else.
It will really appreciated if you could tell me which is the correct interpretation or if you could tell me any more appropriate interpretation of this sentence if there is. Thank you in advance.
TA
Top answer
It doesn't mean either of those things. It is saying that there is evidence that watercraft existed about 43,000 years ago in some other part of the world, not mentioned in your sentence, but found from the full text to be the area of Indonesia and Australia. Then there is a long gap during which no watercraft are known to have been used anywhere else, and the next evidence of use of watercraft comes from the Mediterranean about 13,000 years ago.
- It doesn't mean either of those things.
- It is saying that there is evidence that watercraft existed about 43,000 years ago in some other part of the world, not mentioned in your sentence, but found from the full text to be the area of Indonesia and Australia.
- Then there is a long gap during which no watercraft are known to have been used anywhere else, and the next evidence of use of watercraft comes from the Mediterranean about 13,000 years ago.
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2 Answers
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It doesn't mean either of those things. It is saying that there is evidence that watercraft existed about 43,000 years ago in some other part of the world, not mentioned in your sentence, but found from the full text to be the area of Indonesia and Australia. Then there is a long gap during which no watercraft are known to have been used anywhere else, and the next evidence of use of watercraft co
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Thank you very much for your comments, GPY, which is greatly helpful. Thank you also for your taking look at the text in question. I understand the sentence now thanks to your comment.
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