proto-languages

While the precise genetic relationships, that is — how each of the descendant languages are related to one another — is a matter of lingering debate, there is consensus that the Niger-Congo family comprises an overarching genetic unit. 20 Of the many proto-languages evolved from Niger-Congo and their later descendants, none has garnered more scholarly attention than that of the Bantu branch.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

The original daughter languages of proto-Niger-Congo underwent further divergence, giving rise to their own daughter languages — and in so doing became intermediate proto-languages — and these daughter languages underwent further periods of divergence of their own.

Societies, Religion, and History: Central East Tanzanians and the World They Created, c. 200 BCE to 1800 CE 2008

I made this simple isogloss map to show at a glance how I would explain Proto-Steppe's development into the later proto-languages known and studied and it relates, as always, to the unpixelated view of the Wave Model of language change.

Prehistoric isoglosses in Proto-Steppe 2009

I made this simple isogloss map to show at a glance how I would explain Proto-Steppe's development into the later proto-languages known and studied and it relates, as always, to the unpixelated view of the Wave Model of language change.

Archive 2009-10-01 2009

This blog is in large part a rebellion against the dumbed-down websites and books out there on ancient languages and proto-languages.

"Proto-Aegean" - What I mean and what I don't 2008

At his site, a myriad of proto-languages seem to be tackled all at once but it centers around his personal baby: "North Caucasian" note that the name refers strictly to the languages of the northern regions of the Caucasus mountains, not to a racial term.

The Tower of Babel 2007

So I would suggest a date of 8000 BCE or so when the reduction of the vowel systems of both proto-languages would have begun to occur.

Archive 2007-12-01 2007

Sadly, if you want a serious discussion and inspection of "long-range reconstruction" of any of the hypothesized proto-languages, such as Nostratic, you're probably going to have to wait a few centuries when an intellectual renaissance finally happens.

Nostratic and the curse of the online forum 2007

Enjoying the beauty of proto-languages is what I'm all about and I do believe that experiencing a language through speaking it is the only way to truly understand a language and, by extension, its people.

dnghu and dogmatic relativism 2007

At his site, a myriad of proto-languages seem to be tackled all at once but it centers around his personal baby: "North Caucasian" note that the name refers strictly to the languages of the northern regions of the Caucasus mountains, not to a racial term.

Archive 2007-10-01 2007