Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin
Languages, like genes, provide vital clues about human history. The origin of the Indo-European language family is 'the most intensively studied, yet still most recalcitrant, problem of historical linguistics'. Numerous genetic studies of Indo-European origins have produced inconclusive re...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| פורמט: | Journal article |
| שפה: | English |
| יצא לאור: |
Nature Publishing Group
2003
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| נושאים: |
| _version_ | 1826299062884761600 |
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| author | Gray, R Atkinson, Q |
| author_facet | Gray, R Atkinson, Q |
| author_sort | Gray, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Languages, like genes, provide vital clues about human history. The origin of the Indo-European language family is 'the most intensively studied, yet still most recalcitrant, problem of historical linguistics'. Numerous genetic studies of Indo-European origins have produced inconclusive results. Here we analyse linguistic data using computational methods derived from evolutionary biology. We test between two theories of Indo-European origin - the 'Kurgan expansion' and 'Anatolian farming' hypotheses. The former centres on possible archaeological evidence for an expansion into Europe and the near-East by Kurgan horsemen beginning in the sixth millennium BP. The latter claims that Indo-European languages expanded with the spread of agriculture from Anatolia around 8,000 to 9,500BP. In striking agreement with the Anatolian hypothesis, our analysis of a matrix of 87 languages with 2,449 lexical items produced an estimated age range for the initial Indo-European divergence of between 7,800BP and 9,800BP. The results were robust to changes in coding procedures, calibration points, rooting of the trees and priors in the Bayesian analysis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:56:12Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:d6aef57c-ce30-40fb-8786-f64c4a70afd1 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:56:12Z |
| publishDate | 2003 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:d6aef57c-ce30-40fb-8786-f64c4a70afd12022-03-27T08:35:20ZLanguage tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European originJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:d6aef57c-ce30-40fb-8786-f64c4a70afd1LinguisticsAnthropologyEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetNature Publishing Group2003Gray, RAtkinson, QLanguages, like genes, provide vital clues about human history. The origin of the Indo-European language family is 'the most intensively studied, yet still most recalcitrant, problem of historical linguistics'. Numerous genetic studies of Indo-European origins have produced inconclusive results. Here we analyse linguistic data using computational methods derived from evolutionary biology. We test between two theories of Indo-European origin - the 'Kurgan expansion' and 'Anatolian farming' hypotheses. The former centres on possible archaeological evidence for an expansion into Europe and the near-East by Kurgan horsemen beginning in the sixth millennium BP. The latter claims that Indo-European languages expanded with the spread of agriculture from Anatolia around 8,000 to 9,500BP. In striking agreement with the Anatolian hypothesis, our analysis of a matrix of 87 languages with 2,449 lexical items produced an estimated age range for the initial Indo-European divergence of between 7,800BP and 9,800BP. The results were robust to changes in coding procedures, calibration points, rooting of the trees and priors in the Bayesian analysis. |
| spellingShingle | Linguistics Anthropology Gray, R Atkinson, Q Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |
| title | Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |
| title_full | Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |
| title_fullStr | Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |
| title_short | Language tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin |
| title_sort | language tree divergence times support the anatolian theory of indo european origin |
| topic | Linguistics Anthropology |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT grayr languagetreedivergencetimessupporttheanatoliantheoryofindoeuropeanorigin AT atkinsonq languagetreedivergencetimessupporttheanatoliantheoryofindoeuropeanorigin |