Dene-Caucasian

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Dene-Caucasian denotes a hypothetical macro-family of languages ​​from Eurasia and North America. The main members are Sino-Tibetan , the North Caucasian languages ​​and Basque . Later, the North American Na-Dene languages were also included.

  • The Dene-Caucasian macro family is shown in red

    • Sergei Anatoljewitsch Starostin (1984) founded the pre-form of the Eurasian-North American macro-family Dene-Caucasian, from the Sinotibetan, North Caucasian and Yenisian . With the addition of the Na-Dené languages , Sino-Caucasian was then expanded to Dene-Caucasian.

    acceptance

    Since the Sino-Tibetan proto-language is probably 10,000 years old, a Dene-Caucasian proto-language would have to be at least 20,000 years old, and with its extremely wide geographical distribution probably even older. The majority of linguists doubt that, after such a long time, there are still substantial similarities in phonetics , grammar and vocabulary .

    The results of the Dene-Caucasians are therefore heavily discussed in historical linguistics and are not accepted by the majority of linguists.

    Distribution of the haplogroup C3 on the Y chromosome in the indigenous populations of Asia and America. This genetic marker has a correlation to the Dene-Caucasian language family.
    • Distribution of the haplogroup O on the Y chromosome in the autochthonous populations of Asia and America. This genetic marker has a correlation to the Dene-Caucasian language family.
      Vitaly Shevoroshkin and Alexis Manaster Ramer: Some Recent Work in the Remote Relations of Languages. In: Sydney M. Lamb and E. Douglas Mitchell (Eds.): Sprung from Some Common Source. Investigations into the Prehistory of Languages. Stanford University Press, Stanford (Calif.) 1991.

    composition

    The composition of the Dene-Caucasian is subject to some fluctuations depending on the author. The following list shows the current majority opinion of the "Dene-Caucasians". The components are arranged from west to east.

    Some representatives of this structure also include the extinct languages Hattic , Hurrian and Sumerian , as well as Nahali, which is spoken by around 5,000 people in central India . For most Dene-Caucasian people, North Caucasian represents a genetic unit (see, however, the majority opinion in the article Caucasian languages ).

    The languages of these macrofamily often show the characteristic of ergativity (. Nominative-accusative languages consistently have a case - the "nominative" - the subject of a sentence and another case "accusative" for the direct object . They correspond to the situation in In contrast, ergative languages ​​have a case “ergative”, which is only used as a subject or agent of transitive verbs, and a further case - usually called “absolute” - which is used both as an object of transitive verbs and as a subject of intransitive verbs. If the ergative-absolute construction in a language is not used equally for all tenses, aspects and persons, one speaks of split ergativity or split-ergative.).

    Historical development

    As mentioned above, the assumption of a Dene-Caucasian macro family is based on the hypothesis of a Sino-Caucasian macro family founded by Sergei Starostin in 1984. In doing so, he assumed a genetic relationship between the North Caucasian - conceived as a unit - with the Siberian Yenisei and the Sinotibetan , based on his reconstructions of the respective proto-languages . This macro family was later expanded to include some ancient oriental components ( Hurrian - Urartian , Hattic , Sumerian, etc.), Basque (1985) and finally by Sergei L. Nikolajew in 1988 to include the North American Na-Dené languages to form the Dene-Caucasian macro family. In the 1920s, the Americanist Edward Sapir had already described the relationship between Na-Dené and Sino-Tibetan, but not published it.

    Dissemination of the Na Dené languages

    Other important names that advanced the classification of the Dene-Caucasian in the 20th century were, besides Edward Sapir, Alfredo Trombetti , Robert Bleichsteiner , Karl Bouda , EJ Furnée , René Lafon , Robert Shafer , Olivier Guy Tailleur , Morris Swadesh , Vladimir Nikolajewitsch Toporow , to name the most important names.

    Common pronominal morphemes

    This article or section needs to be revised: There is something technically wrong with the footnotes here. Possibly. outdated syntax. - Kenny McFly ( discussion ) 14:17, Sep 9. 2018 (CEST)
    Please help to improve it and then remove this mark.

    meaning Proto-Dene Caucasian Proto-
    Basque         		Proto-
    Caucasian         		Proto-
    burushaski         		Proto-
    Sinotibetan         		Proto-
    Yenisische         		Na-Dené Proto-
    Salishan         		Proto-
    Algisch         		Sumerian
    1. sg. / ŋV / / ni /, / n / - / nɨ / [1] / a / - /n / A/- / ŋ / / nV / / nˀV / - / ŋa (e) / [2]
    / d͡zV / - / da / -, - / t / / zoː / / d͡ʑa / / ʔad͡z / [3] - / t͡s (a) / -, - / s / [4]
    / KV / / gu / [5] , / g / - (pl.) / ka / - [6]
    2. so. / KwV / / hi /, / h / -, - / ga / - [7] / ʁwVː / / gu / - ~ / go / - / Kwa / - / (V) k (V) / [8th] / ʔaxʷ / / k̕V / -
    / u̯Vn / - / na / - [9] / u̯oː-n / /U.N/ / na- (ŋ) / / ʔaw / [10] / wV /
    3rd sg. / w / - or / m / - / be-ra / / mV / / mu / - [11] / m / - / wV / [12]
    2. pl. / Su / / su /, / s / - / ʑwe / / t͡sa (e) / [13]

    Footnotes : 1 From a Caucasian perspective alone, the word cannot be reconstructed for a Proto-Caucasian or even Proto-East Caucasian language; it is only found in the Lacic and Dargin languages (Bengtson 2008: 94) 2 The final sound / e / was found in Sumerian pronouns and represented an ergative ending. In the Sumerian Emesal dialect / ma (e) / . 3 Proto-Athapaskan languages * / ʃ / , Haida dii / dìː / . 4 Likewise in Proto-South Wakashan . 5 1st pl .. 6 Tlingit x a / χà / , Eyak / x / -, / xʷ / . 7 masculine verb prefix . 8 Proto-Athapaskan languages * / χʷ / -, Tlingit ÿi / ɰi / > yi / ji / = 2nd pl .; Tlingit i / ʔì / , Eyak / ʔi / "thou". 9 Feminine verb prefix. 10 Proto-Athapaskan * / ŋ̰ən / -, Haida dang / dàŋ /, Tlingit wa.é / waʔɛ́ / , where the hypothesis of a connection between forms of Proto-Athapaskan and Haida on the one hand and the other languages ​​on the other requires assimilation at first glance and dissimilation (Bengtson 2008: 94). 11 Feminine. 12 Proto-Athapaskan languages * / wə / -, Eyak / wa / -, Tlingit wé / wɛ́ / , Haida 'wa / wˀà / . 13 2nd sg.

    literature

    • The journal Mother Tongue regularly covers Deno-Caucasian topics. The articles in issues I – V (1995–1999) are particularly important.
    • SA Starostin: Gipoteza o genetičeskij svjazjax sinotibetskix jazykov s enisejskimi i severnokavkazskimi jazykami. Moscow 1984.
    • Vitaly Shevoroshkin (Ed.): Dene-Sino-Caucasian Languages. Brockmeyer, Bochum 1991.
      (Contains the English translation of Starostin's original Russian article on Sino-Caucasian from 1984 and the article Sino-Caucasian Languages ​​in America by Sergei Nikolajev, in which the Na-Dené languages ​​are added to Sino-Caucasian.)
    • Georgij A. Klimov : Introduction to Caucasian Linguistics. German adaptation by Jost Gippert, Hamburg 1994 [1]

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ John D. Bengtson: Materials for a Comparative Grammar of the Dene-Caucasian (Sino-Caucasian) Languages. (2008) Aspects of Comparative Linguistics 3, Moscow: RSUH Publishers, pp. 45-118
    2. ↑ SA Starostin: Gipoteza o genetičeskij svjazjax sinotibetskix jazykov s enisejskimi i severnokavkazskimi jazykami. Moscow 1984.