Narrative Historical Linguistics

Ross, Malcolm

doi:10.1002/9781118732168.ch22

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Having thus exhausted the possibilities of the inductive comparative method, further analysis relies, as in other historical sciences, on abduction by presenting a hypothesis that accounts for all observations (Ross, 2021 ; Kiparsky, 2015 : 67–68; Anttila, 1989 : 25; Watson, 1976 ). Drawing on evidence from multiple lines of evidence is the bedrock of historical sciences, where the evidence is scarce and typically independent.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Bjørn

2022

Evolut. Hum. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Bjørn

2022

Evolut. Hum. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Narrative Historical Linguistics

Cited by 1 publication

References 55 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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About