Typology,Genetic, Areal, and Historical Linguistics

Elly van Gelderen

Spring 2011

IN PREPARATION

Origins and typology• Language Origins

• Archeology• Genetics• Linguistics

• Earliest records

• IE > Gmc and reconstruction• Sounds Grimm’s Law• Grammar

• Typology

Archeology and Migration:

For instance:

Anghilak Cave, Uzbekistan. (Photo M. Glantz, http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/glantz/glantz.html)

Genetics and Migrations

More MtDNA

http://www.acadian-home.org/Haplogroups.html

http://schema-root.org/people/indigenous/

Y-DNA migrations

Can typology help?

Dryer’s map on Case

VO and OV

Possible `Super’ Family

Nostratic

Nostratic *gadi ‘kid, young goat’

Indo European *ghaid. Latin has haedus

Explain how the Latin haedus corresponds to Old Norse geit and eventually Modern English goat.

So:

Proto-Language

Nostratic

Indo-European Afro-Asiatic etc

Germanic Romance Celtic etc

English German Swedish etc

Some hypotheses on Proto-Language• Newmeyer suggests that proto-languages may have been inflectional

(2000: 385, n 4)

• Bickerton 1990fossils of proto-lg (aphasia/pidgin): no morphology; no PS

• Jackendoff 2002

• Hauser, Chomsky, & Fitch 2002FLB (CI-SM-Mechanisms for Recursion) – FLN (Recursion)

• Chomsky 2005Merge "`Great Leap Forward' in the evolution of humans"

Earliest Writings: 3 types

• Vinca: 6,000

• Harappan:5,500

• Egyptian: 5,300 (p. 33)

• Mesopotamian: 5,100

• Chinese: 3,500

• Mayan: 2,500

Vinca: Southeastern Europe

Indo European

Grimm’s Law

Sanskrit: p t k b d g bh dh ghCorresponds to:

Germanic: f θ h p t k b d g

Sanskrit bh/dh/gh

Latin f/f/h Corresponds to: Gmc b/d/g

Greek ph/th/ch

Grimm/First Consonant Shift

bhrater frater brotherdhwer foris doorghordho hortus yard (< Old English

geard)pitr pater fathertu tu thoukrnga cornu hornkanab cannabis hemp (< OE henep)Danta dentis toothjna gnoscere know/ken

Match:

Sanskrit: Old English:

bhar þu

pitar þrie

pada beran

trayas fæder

tvam fot

Match:

Latin: Modern English:

noctis tooth

gelu night

cannabis kin

dentis glacial

gens hemp

Second Consonant Shiftpijp, pipe [p] > Pfeife [pf] slapen, sleep [p] > schlafen [f] speer, spear [p] > Speer [p]

twee, two [t] > zwei [ts] Eten, eat [t] > essen [s] Steen, stone [t] > Stein [t]

boek, book [k] > Buch [X] sk.. > sk..

Reconstruction methods, e.g. Comparative Method

Sanskrit Avestan Greek Latin Gothic Englishpita pater pater fadar father padam poda pedem fotu foot bhratar phrater frater brothar brother bharami barami phero fero baira bear jivah jivo wiwos qius quick

('living') sanah hano henee senex sinista senile virah viro wir wair were(wolf)

tris tres thri three deka decem taihun ten

satem he-katon centum hund(rath) hundred

Proto Romance?

French cent [sã];

Italian cento [t∫εnto]

Spanish ciento [siεnto]

Latin centum [kεntum]

More CM

How to reconstruct Grammar?

• Look at what happens in change you have evidence for.

• Sanskrit nouns have endings representing eight different cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, ablative, locative, and vocative. (1) Ayodhya-yam vasa-ti

Ayodhya-LOC lives-3S'He lives in Ayodhya'.

Adam Smith, 1767

Sanskrit > Hindi/Urdu

(1) nagarat vanam gacchati

city-ABL forest-ACC goes-3S

'He goes from the city to the forest'.

(2) Wo šehr se jngl ko jata hẽ

he city from forest to go-M be-3S

'He goes from the city to the forest'.

Politics

Aryan Myth

Harappa??

East Asia

Back to typology

• Links between type and family?