Episode 32 How Far Back Can We Trace Languages

Dr John McWhorter (2019)

Film Review

Thus far linguists have been unable to identify a “proto-world” language, the first language that emerged 100,000 – 300,000 year ago from which all other languages are derived.

The best they can come up with is a proto-Nostratic super family, from which all Eurasian and South Asian languages are derived. The specific language familie derived from Nostratic include Indo-European, Altaic, Afroasiatic (Hebrew/Arabic, Dravidian, Uralic and Karvelian (South Caucasian). Some linguists would include Eskimo-Aleut (see Indigenous Language Families: Aleut, Alogonquin and West Coast Languages)>

Proto-Nostratic, from which all these languages are derived, most likely emerged in the fertile crescent 10,000 – 15,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age.

The word for me, who and who in all these languages provide the strongest evidence supporting a common ancestor.

Me

• Proto-IndoEruopean – mi
• Proto-Uralic – mi
• Proto-Altaic – bi
• Proto-AfroAsiatic – mi
• Proto-Georgian – mí

We

• Proto-IndoEuropean – me
• Proto-Uralic – me
• Proto Altaic – myn
• Proto-Afroasiatic – mn
• Proto-Georgian – men

Ear

• Proto-Nostratic – q’iwiv
• Proto-IndoEuropean – Kjleu
• Pro-Uralic  – khul
• Proto-froAiatic – ki(wjl)

Who

• Proto-Nostratic – k’o
• Proto-IndoEuropean – kwo
• Proto-Uralic – ko
• Proto Altaic – kha
• Proto-AfroAsiatic – k(w)

Water

• Proto – IndoEuropean – wed
• Proto-Uralic – wete
• Proto Dravidian – nīr

Another proto super family that has been identified includes Tai Kadai and all the Thai  and Austroneisian languages that haven’t been “Chinafied” (by converting most words into a single syllable with meaning distinctions determined by tonal changes). See Southeast Asian Languages: Tones, Creaky Vowels and Telegraphic Sentence

Similarities are found in words used for word for bird, eye and head.

Bird

• Proto-Malayo-Polynesian – manuk
• Buyang (language of southwest China) – manuk

Eye

• Proto-Malayo-Polynesia – mata
• Buyang – mata

Head

• Proto-Malayo-Polynesia – qulu
• Buyang –  qaðù

There’s also evidence that Sino-Tibetan languages are related to Austronesian.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/6120000/6120064