Armenian

Olsen, Birgit Anette; Thorsø, Rasmus

doi:10.1017/9781108758666.012

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 16 publications

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“…The widespread word for a ‘female in-law’ may similarly be hypothesised to have transferred into the Uralo-Turkic linguistic area (including Tungusic and Yukaghir) with the advent of an Indo-European speaking Afanasievo culture. A reasonable explanation for its popular status is an ingrained token of alliances facilitated between different clans in a ‘strictly exogamous, hierarchical, patrilocal and patrilineal system typical of pastoral societies being indigenous to the ancient Indo-European peoples’ (Olsen, 2020 : 134–136, 162). It is noteworthy that this item is the only relational term not internally derived in Indo-European.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia

Bjørn

2022

Evolut. Hum. Sci.

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Loanword analysis is a unique contribution of historical linguistics to our understanding of prehistoric cultural interfaces. As language reflects the lives of its speakers, the substantiation of loanwords draws on the composite evidence from linguistic as well as auxiliary data from archaeology and genetics through triangulation. The Bronze Age of Central Asia is in principle linguistically mute, but a host of recent independent observations that tie languages, cultures, and genetics together in various ways invites a comprehensive reassessment of six highly diagnostic loanwords (‘seven’, ‘name/fame’, ‘sister-in-law’, ‘honey’, ‘metal’, and ‘horse’), that are associated with the Bronze Age. Moreover, they are shared between Indo-European, Uralic, Turkic, and sometimes Old Chinese. The successful identification of the interfaces for these loanwords can help settle longstanding debates on languages, migrations, and the items themselves. Each item is analyzed using the comparative method with reference to the archaeological record to assess the plausibility of a transfer. I argue that the six items can be dated to have entered Central and East Asian languages from immigrant Indo-European languages spoken in the Afanasievo and Andronovo cultures, including a novel source for the ‘horse’ in Old Chinese.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia

Bjørn

2022

Evolut. Hum. Sci.

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Ancient genomics support deep divergence between Eastern and Western Mediterranean Indo-European languages

Yediay,

Kroonen,

Sabatini

et al. 2024

Preprint

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SummaryThe Indo-European languages are among the most widely spoken in the world, yet their early diversification remains contentious1–5. It is widely accepted that the spread of this language family across Europe from the 5th millennium BP correlates with the expansion and diversification of steppe-related genetic ancestry from the onset of the Bronze Age6,7. However, multiple steppe-derived populations co-existed in Europe during this period, and it remains unclear how these populations diverged and which provided the demographic channels for the ancestral forms of the Italic, Celtic, Greek, and Armenian languages8,9. To investigate the ancestral histories of Indo-European-speaking groups in Southern Europe, we sequenced genomes from 314 ancient individuals from the Mediterranean and surrounding regions, spanning from 5,200 BP to 2,100 BP, and co-analysed these with published genome data. We additionally conducted strontium isotope analyses on 224 of these individuals. We find a deep east-west divide of steppe ancestry in Southern Europe during the Bronze Age. Specifically, we show that the arrival of steppe ancestry in Spain, France, and Italy was mediated by Bell Beaker (BB) populations of Western Europe, likely contributing to the emergence of the Italic and Celtic languages. In contrast, Armenian and Greek populations acquired steppe ancestry directly from Yamnaya groups of Eastern Europe. These results are consistent with the linguistic Italo-Celtic10,11and Graeco-Armenian1,12,13hypotheses accounting for the origins of most Mediterranean Indo-European languages of Classical Antiquity. Our findings thus align with specific linguistic divergence models for the Indo-European language family while contradicting others. This underlines the power of ancient DNA in uncovering prehistoric diversifications of human populations and language communities.

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On the Armenian – Kartvelian Loan Contacts: Words with Initial *γw-

Simon

2023

AOrient

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Four Proto-Kartvelian words with initial *γw- are traditionally held to be borrowings from either Proto-Indo-European or Proto-Armenian. Based on recent progress in Indo-European and Kartvelian linguistics, this paper argues that all four proposed PIE loanwords in PK are untenable; two out of these cannot be Proto-Armenian loanwords either. The third one, the word for ‘wine’, could be a Proto-Armenian loan in PK, but it has formal problems and the alternative proposed here, a Proto-Zan loan in Proto-Armenian, provides a more regular solution. Combined with the last case (the word for ‘juniper’), which also receives a regular solution only as a Proto-Zan loan, we have two Proto-Zan loans in Proto-Armenian instead of PIE/Proto-Armenian loans in Proto-Kartvelian.

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Armenian

Abstract: 2 The diphthong ea results from both ea and ia arising after the loss of intervocalic consonants. 12 Armenian

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia

Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia

Ancient genomics support deep divergence between Eastern and Western Mediterranean Indo-European languages

On the Armenian – Kartvelian Loan Contacts: Words with Initial *γw-

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Armenian

Abstract: 2 The diphthong ea results from both *ea and *ia arising after the loss of intervocalic consonants. 12 Armenian

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia

Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia

Ancient genomics support deep divergence between Eastern and Western Mediterranean Indo-European languages

On the Armenian – Kartvelian Loan Contacts: Words with Initial *γw-

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Product

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Abstract: 2 The diphthong ea results from both ea and ia arising after the loss of intervocalic consonants. 12 Armenian