EgyptSearch Forums: Questions about "Indo-European" languages, migrations, and civilization

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Posted by SirInfamous (Member # 16497) on :

Here's the thing, we know that Indo-Iranian, Hellenic, Armenian, Germanic, Celtic, Italic, Slavic, Baltic, and old Anatolian languages are relate (much like Afro-Asiatic or other language groups).

Did these languages form out of mother tongues? How did these languages spread?

For instance we know 4000 years ago in Greece the Minoans and other people living in what is now Greece were not speaking a language that is related to Classical Greek. So is the introduction of the "Greek" language linked to invasions? (more than likely from the North)

The dominant hypothesis among linguistic scholors is that the Origin or Indo-European languages is around the Kurgan Steppes in Southern Russia around the Black sea.

The thing is though there is no Genetic marker(s) for the spread of these people/languages.

Some people have suggested it's linked to Marker R1a but that's a paleolithic marker that originated long before "Indo-European" languages were spoken.

Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :

Little late.. .this has been discussed already. . .check the largest thread on this forum. . . all >3K replies.

A few of us agree with the idea that . . .yes. . . it was an invasion. PCT study(discussed in that thread) is based upon the assumption if the Euroepans are not the incoming Neolithic farmers "then they were already there" EXCEPT for a large scale invasion. I repeat "EXCEPT for a large scale invasion".

That discussion went on for over 18mths

BTW - Sadley should be "sadly"

Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :

quote:
Originally posted by SirInfamous:

Here's the thing, we know that Indo-Iranian, Hellenic, Armenian, Germanic, Celtic, Italic, Slavic, Baltic, and old Anatolian languages are relate (much like Afro-Asiatic or other language groups).

Actually 'Old Anatolian' refers to the pre-Indo-European languages of the Anatolian peninsula, but yeah we know about the genetic language families established by linguistics.

quote:
Did these languages form out of mother tongues? How did these languages spread?

According to the theory of linguistic evolution, as speakers of a language spread, variations we know as 'dialects' form. As time goes on, if speakers spread out and diverge even more especially if under the influence of other cultures or languages, the dialects could change to the point of becoming an entirely different language.

quote:
For instance we know 4000 years ago in Greece the Minoans and other people living in what is now Greece were not speaking a language that is related to Classical Greek. So is the introduction of the "Greek" language linked to invasions? (more than likely from the North)

So far there has been no evidence to indicate an outright 'invasion'. What is likely the case is that there were multiple waves of peaceful immigration with cultural trends that favored the language and customs of the immigrants.

quote:
The dominant hypothesis among linguistic scholors is that the Origin or Indo-European languages is around the Kurgan Steppes in Southern Russia around the Black sea.

Yes, judging by the spatial and geographic arrangement of IE languages with the greatest number of subfamilies being in Europe and the largest and most diverse subfamily (Indo-Iranian) in Asia, it's likely it originated somewhere in the Russian steppes.

quote:
The thing is though there is no Genetic marker(s) for the spread of these people/languages.

Some people have suggested it's linked to Marker R1a but that's a paleolithic marker that originated long before "Indo-European" languages were spoken.

Language is a cultural aspect that can easily be passed on or adopted between populations without any acutal biological genetic input. We see this for example today in nations where English is spoken as an official language either because of conquest or simply 'popularity' even though the peoples have inherited almost no genes from the actual peoples of England.