Paleolinguistics is a term used by some linguists for the study of the distant human past by Linguistics linguistic means. For most historical linguistics historical linguists there is no separate field of paleolinguistics. Those who use the term are generally advocates of hypotheses not generally accepted by mainstream historical linguists, a group colloquially referred to as long rangers . The controversial hypotheses in question fall into two categories. Some of them involve the application of standard historical linguistic methodology in ways that raise doubts as to the validity of the hypothesis. A good example of this sort is the Moscow school of Nostraticists, founded by Vladislav Illich Svitych and including Aharon Dolgopolsky , Sergei Starostin , and Vitaly Shevoroshkin , who have argued for the existence of Nostratic , a language family including the Indo European languages Indo European , Afro Asiatic languages Afro Asiatic , Altaic languages Altaic , Elamo Dravidian languages Dravidian , and Kartvelian languages Kartvelian language families and sometimes other languages. They have established regular phonological correspondences, observed morphological similarities, and reconstructed a proto language in accordance with the accepted methodology. Nostratic is not generally accepted because critics have doubts about the specifics of the correspondences and reconstruction. Other hypotheses are controversial because the methods used to support them are considered by mainstream historical linguists to be invalid in principle. Into this category fall proposals based on mass lexical comparison , a technique in which relationships are considered to be established by the presentation of sets of words dubbed etymologies in which the forms are perceived as resembling each other in sound and meaning, without establishing phonological correspondences or carrying out a reconstruction ... of polygenism rather than that of monogenesis . Sources Bla ek, V., et al. 2001. Paleolinguistics ... more details
In paleolinguistics a Semitism is a grammatical or syntactical behaviour in a language which reveals that the influence of a Semitic language is present. The most common example is the influence of Aramaic on some texts written in Koine Greek . Otherwise the term Semitism is rare but may refer to Judaism Philo Semitism Semitic people disambig Long comment to avoid being listed on short pages de Semitismus ... more details
John D. Bengtson is a historical and anthropological Linguistics linguist . He is a past president and currently a vice president of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory , and has served as editor of the journal Mother Tongue journal Mother Tongue 1996 2003 . His areas of specialization include Scandinavian languages and linguistics, Indo European linguistics, African languages, Den Caucasian languages , and paleolinguistics the study of prehistory through linguistic evidence . References Bengtson, John D. 1994. with Merritt Ruhlen Global Etymologies. In M. Ruhlen, On the Origin of Languages Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy . Stanford, CA Stanford University Press. 1994. Edward Sapir and the Sino Dene Hypothesis. Anthropological Science 102.3 207 230. 1995. with V clav Bla ek Lexica Dene Caucasica. Central Asiatic Journal 39.1 11 50 39.2 161 164. 1997. Ein Vergleich von Buruschaski und Nordkaukasisch. Georgica 20 88 94. 1998. Caucasian and Sino Tibetan A Hypothesis of S.A. Starostin. General Linguistics 36.1 2 33 49. 1999. Wider genetic affiliations of the Chinese language. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 27.1 1 12. 2000. with V clav Bla ek Lexical Parallels Between Ainu and Austric, and Their Implications. Archiv Orient ln 68 237 258. 2003. Notes on Basque Comparative Phonology. Mother Tongue 8 21 39. 2004. Some features of Dene Caucasian phonology with special reference to Basque . Cahiers de l Institut de Linguistique de Louvain 30.4 33 54. External links http jdbengt.net Dr Bengtson s homepage http www.people.fas.harvard.edu witzel aslip.html Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory http ehl.santafe.edu Santa Fe Institute, Evolution of Human Language Project Persondata Metadata see Wikipedia Persondata . NAME Bengtson, John ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION DATE OF BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH DATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH DEFAULTSORT Bengtson, John Category Year of birth missing living people Category Living people Category Historical ling ... more details
Vitaly Victorovich Shevoroshkin , Russ. , is an American linguist of Russian origin, specializing in the study of ancient Mediterranean languages. In the 1960s he tried to decipher Carian language Carian inscriptions and proved that their language belonged to Anatolian languages . In the 1970s he emigrated to the United States. He is now a professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Linguistics at the University of Michigan . Shevoroshkin is also a leader in the study of language in prehistory paleolinguistics , and in publicizing the recent work of paleolinguists, especially Russians. In 1988 he and Benjamin Stolz organized the First International Interdisciplinary Symposium on Language and Prehistory, at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus. Forty six scholars participated as presenters and discussants, sixteen of which were from Russia and other eastern European countries or recently emigrated therefrom . This symposium led to renewed cooperation among historical linguists, archeologists, and physical anthropologists from East and West. Some of his work on remote linguistic relationship relationships and the hypothetical Proto World language is controversial. References Books SHEVOROSHKIN, V.V. & T.L. MARKEY, Eds. 1986. Typology, Relationship and Time. Ann Arbor Karoma. SHEVOROSHKIN, V.V., Ed. 1989a. Reconstructing Languages and Cultures. Abstracts and Materials from the First Interdisciplinary Symposium on Language and Prehistory, Ann Arbor, 8 12 November 1988. Bochum Brockmeyer. SHEVOROSHKIN, V.V., Ed. 1989b. Explorations in Language Macrofamilies. Materials from the First Interdisciplinary Symposium on Language and Prehistory. Bochum Brockmeyer. SHEVOROSHKIN, V.V., Ed. 1990. Proto Languages and Proto Cultures. Materials from the First Interdisciplinary Symposium on Language and Prehistory. Bochum Brockmeyer. SHEVOROSHKIN, V.V., Ed. 1991. Dene Sino Caucasian Languages. Materials from the First Interdisciplinary Symposi ... more details
Andrew Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn , Doctor of Philosophy Ph.D. , British Academy FBA , Society of Antiquaries of London FSA , Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Fellowship HonFSAScot born 25 July 1937 in Stockton on Tees is a prominent United Kingdom British archaeologist and highly regarded academic, noted for his work on radiocarbon dating , the paleolinguistics prehistory of languages , archaeogenetics , and the prevention of Illicit antiquities looting at archaeological sites . He developed the Anatolian hypothesis Renfrew Hypothesis , which argues that Proto Indo Europeans lived 2,000 years before the Kurgan hypothesis Kurgan s, in Anatolia , later diffusing throughout the Mediterranean and into Central and Northern Europe. This hypothesis contradicted the work of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas who, as early as 1958 in an article entitled Culture Change in Europe at the Start of the Second Millennium B.C. A Contribution to the Indo European Problem had postulated that the Indo Europeans had migrated into Europe from the north, leading to the demise of the Goddess worshipping cultures of Old Europe. Along with fellow Archaeologist Paul Bahn , Renfrew has come up with the Renfrew and Bahns indicator of Religion and Ritual , a definition to determine whether the actions or conducts of Archaeological civilizations were a religious ritual. Professor Renfrew was formerly the Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and is now a Senior Fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Biography Renfrew was educated at St Albans School Hertfordshire St Albans School , Hertfordshire where one of the houses is named after him and from 1956 to 1958 did National Service in the Royal Air Force . He then went up to St John s College, Cambridge where he read Archaeology and Anthropology , graduating in 1962. In 1965 he completed his PhD thesis Neolithic and Bron ... more details
Encyclopedia
top
