Nostratic languages
Proposed superfamily of Eurasian and African languages / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Nostratic languages?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Nostratic is a hypothetical language macrofamily including many of the language families of northern Eurasia first proposed in 1903. Though a historically important proposal, it is now generally considered a fringe theory. Its exact composition varies based on proponent; it typically includes the Kartvelian, Indo-European and Uralic languages; some languages from the similarly controversial Altaic family; the Afroasiatic languages; as well as the Dravidian languages (sometimes also Elamo-Dravidian).
This article may present fringe theories, without giving appropriate weight to the mainstream view and explaining the responses to the fringe theories. (June 2023) |
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards, as it currently reads like it's making a case for Nostratic instead of presenting the understanding of what it is and its current standing in historical linguistics. (June 2023) |
Nostratic | |
---|---|
(widely rejected[1]) | |
Geographic distribution | Europe, Asia except for the southeast, North and Northeast Africa, the Arctic |
Linguistic classification | Hypothetical macrofamily |
Subdivisions |
|
Glottolog | None |
The Nostratic hypothesis originates with Holger Pedersen in the early 20th century. The name "Nostratic" is due to Pedersen (1903), derived from the Latin nostrates "fellow countrymen". The hypothesis was significantly expanded in the 1960s by Soviet linguists, notably Vladislav Illich-Svitych and Aharon Dolgopolsky.
The hypothesis has fallen out of favour since the latter half of the 20th century and has limited degrees of acceptance, predominantly among a minority of Russian linguists. Linguists worldwide mostly reject Nostratic and many other macrofamily hypotheses with the exception of Dené–Yeniseian languages, which has been met with some degree of acceptance.[2] In Russia, it is endorsed by a minority of linguists, such as Vladimir Dybo, but is not a generally accepted hypothesis.[citation needed] Some linguists take an agnostic view.[3][4][5][6] Eurasiatic, a similar grouping, was proposed by Joseph Greenberg (2000) and endorsed by Merritt Ruhlen.