EatTheRich
President
A handful of historical linguists make the argument that the world's various language families and "isolates" (languages like Zuni, Kootenai, Korean, and Japanese that have no obvious close relatives) can be grouped into branching trees based on the idea of common descent. Not only is this "tree model" controversial; so are both the methods used by these researchers and the application of these methods. Nevertheless, there have been striking correspondences between both the findings of different researchers using different methods and between their findings and the independent conclusions of archeological and genetic research.
Even if some of the conclusions are mistaken, I think the goals of the project are laudable and, in my uninformed opinion, the conclusions are exciting. Presented here for illustration purposes is a simplified version of one such tree model, that of Joseph Greenberg, who pioneered the modern model of comparative linguistics, with branching details filled in by the work of researchers doing similar work. In this example, successive numbers at the same level illustrate a branching order, so that for example everything under 2-3 may be more closely related than everything under 1.
Greenberg's particular findings are controversial even among people sympathetic to his work. In particular, his Khoisan and Indo-Pacific families have come in for considerable scrutiny. The placement of the languages he terms Almosan, Korean, and Japanese, as well as the relationships of the highest-level families, are also controversial. But his work is a reference point for anyone doing similar work, and even researchers critical of his work often assume the existence of macrofamilies first established or defended by Greenberg. The identification of historic civilizations by language is also speculative. And I apologize for errors I've made here. The 12 basic families into which Greenberg divides the world's languages I have put in bold for reference.
IA. Nilo-Saharan
IA1a. Saharan (Zaghawa, Kanuri, Kanem-Bornu Empire)
IA1b. Songhay (Koyraboro Chiini, Koyra Chiini, Songhay Empire, Gao, Djenne, Timbuktu)
IA2. Fur (Sultanate of Darfur)
IA3a. Central Sudanic (Mangbetu, Efe pygmy language, Sao city-states)
IA3b-i. Nubian-Meroitic (Kush, Nubian kingdoms, Nubians)
IA3b-ii. Nilotic (Luo, Dinka, Maasai)
IB. Niger-Congo
IB1. Mande (Bambara, Mandinka, Soninke, medieval Ghana, Mali, and Bambara Empires, Caliphate of Bobo-Dioulasso)
IB2. Atlantic-Congo (Fula, Wolof, Fulani Sultanates, Tukulor Empire, Sokoto Caliphate)
IB3. Dogon-Bangi me (spoken in Mali)
IB4. Ijoid (new kingdom of Calabar)
IB5a. N. Volta (Kru, Mossi, Zande, Kingdom of Sosso)
IB5b-i. Kwa (Akan, Ewe, Fon, Ashanti Empire, Fante Confederacy, Kingdom of Dahomey)
IB5b-iia. W. Benue-Congo (Yoruba, Edo, Igbo, Kingdom of Benin, Igbo city-states, Kingdom of Bonny, Aro Confederacy)
IB5b-iib-I. Cross River (Ibibio, Efik, Ogoni, old Kingdom of Calabar)
IB5b-iib-II. Bantu (Rwanda, Rundi, Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Shona, Swazi, Baka and Mbuti pygmy languages, Herero, Mbundu, Kongo, Fang, Songo Confederacy, Luba Empire, Lunda Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Zulu Empire, Mogadishu, Zanzibar, Kilwa, Great Zimbabwe)
II. Australian (Warlpiri, Kala Lagaw Ya, Dharug, Guugu Yimithirr, Djabirr Djabirr)
III. Indo-Pacific
IIIA. Tasmanian (extinct languages of Tasmania)
IIIB1a. Great Andamanese (Sentinelese and other Andaman Island languages)
IIIB1b. W. Indo-Pacific (Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore, languages of W. New Guinea and Timor)
IIIB2. Nuclear Indo-Pacific (Enga, Wiru, and other languages of New Guinea and N. Australia)
IIIC. Pacific (Rotokas and other languages of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands)
IV. Khoisan (Khoekhoe, Nama, and other languages of "Hottentots," "Bushmen," and related African peoples)
VA. Dene-Caucasian
VA1. Ancient Sumerian
VA2. Na-Dene (Tlingit, Haida, Slavey, Carrier, Beaver, Hare, Hupa, Navajo, Apache)
VA3. Vasconic (Basque, ancient Iberian, Kingdom of Navarre)
VA4. N. Caucasian (Chechen, Circassian, Ingush, ancient Hurrian, Kingdom of Mitanni, Kingdom of Colchis, "Amazons," biblical Jebusites)
VA5a. Chinese (Mandarin, Shanghaiese, Cantonese, Taiwanese)
VA5b. Tibeto-Burmese (Tibetan, Burmese, Karen, Dzongkha)
VB. Austric
VB1a. Hmong-Mien (Hmong)
VB1b. Austro-Asiatic (Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, Santali, Angkor, Dvaravati)
VB2a. Tai-Kadai (Thai, Laotian, Shan, Zhuang)
VB2b-I. Philippine (Tagalog, Cebuano, Filipino, Kapampangan)
VB2b-IIA. Sama-Bajaw (languages of "sea gypsies")
VB2b-IIB. Barito (Malagasy and related languages of Madagascar, Borneo, and the Philippines)
VB2b-IIIA. Sunda-Sulawesi (Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Palauan, Chamorro, Malay, Chamic, Kingdoms of Champa, Sunda, Bali, Demak, Empires of Srivijaya and Majapahit, Sultanate of Aceh)
VB2b-IIIb. Oceanic (Micronesian, Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Maori, Hawaiian)
VIA1. Eurasiatic
VIA1a-I. Tyrsenian (Etruscan)
VIA1a-II. Indo-European
VIA1a-IIA. Anatolian (Hittite, Lydian)
VIA1a-IIB-1. Italic (Roman Empire, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian)
VIA1a-IIB-2. Celtic (Cornish, Welsh, Gaulish, Gaelic, Breton, biblical Tarshish)
VIA1a-IIC. Greco-Armenian (Greek, Armenian, Philistine, ancient Macedon, Albanian, Phrygian)
VIA1a-IID. Indo-Iranian (Sanskrit, Pali, Median, Persian, Scythian, Parthian, Hindustani, Romani "gypsy" languages, Nepali, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, Punjabi, Pashto, Kurdish)
VIA1a-IIE. Germanic (English, German, Dutch, Danish, Yiddish, Gothic, Norwegian, Swedish, Low German, Afrikaans, Frisian, Vandal)
VIA1a-IIF. Balto-Slavic (Polish, Czech, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, modern Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Prussian)
VIA1b-I. Korean-Japanese-Ainu (Korean, Japanese)
VIA1b-II. Altaic (Mongol, Manchu, Jurchen, Hsiong-Nu, Turkish, Kazakh, Chagatai, Uzbek, Khazar, Huns, ancient Bulgars)
VIA1c. Eskimo-Aleut (Inuit, Yupik, Aleut)
VIA1d. Uralic (Finnish, Saami, Samoyed, Hungarian, Estonian)
VIA2. Amerind
VIA2a-1. Otomanguean (Zapotec, Mixtec, Monte Alban)
VIA2a-2. Uto-Aztecan (Hopi, Shoshone, Comanche, Yaqui, Nahua, Tarahumara, Hohokam, Anasazi, Toltec, Aztec)
VIA2a-3. Kiowa-Tanoan (Kiowa, Tanoan Pueblo)
VIA2b-1A1. Hokan (Mojave, Yuma, Pomo, Shasta)
VIA2b-1A2a. Inland Penutian (Miwok, Yokuts, Klamath, Modoc, Nez Perce, Walla Walla, Cayuse, Appaloosa)
VIA2b-1A2b. Maritime Penutian (Tshimshian, Chinook, Coosa, Siuslaw)
VIA2b-1A2c. Zuni (language of NM and AZ, "Cibola")
VIA2b-1A2d. Macro-Mayan (Mayan, Olmec, Totonac, Teotihuacan, Tiwanaku)
VIA2b-1A2e. Gulf (Natchez, Chitimacha, Alabama, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, SE. Mississippians, Poverty Point, Moundville, Cahokia)
VIA2b-2A1. Iroquoian (Cherokee, Iroquois, Huron, Erie, Neutral, Tobacco, Susquehannock, Adena)
VIA2b-2A2. Siouan (Sioux, Crow, Winnebago, Omaha, Catawba, Cheraw, Osage, Kansa)
VIA2b-2A3. Yuchi (Tennessee language)
VIA2b-2A4. Keresan (Keres Pueblo, Mogollon)
VIA2b-2A5. Caddoan (Caddo, Wichita, Pawnee, Arikara, SW. Mississippians, "Quivira")
VIA2b-2B1. Algonquian (Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Cree, Chippewa, Kickapoo, Sauk, Fox, Illinois, Powhatan, Delaware, Mahican, Micmac, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Pequot, Narragansett, Wampanoag, Montagnais, Chickahominy, Hopewell, N. Mississippian)
VIA2b-2B2. Kootenai (spoken in B.C., MT, ID)
VIA2b-2B3a. Salishan (Flathead, Spokane, Kalispell, Flathead, Bella Coola, Lushootseed, Snohomish, Tillamook, Snohomish, Coeur d'Alene)
VIA2b-2B3b. Wakashan (Bella Bella, Nootka, Makah, Kwakiutl)
VIA2c-1. Chibchan-Paezan (Tarascan, Timucua, Chibcha, Muisca, "El Dorado," Miskito)
VIA2c-2A. Andean (Aymara, Quechua, Chavin, Moche, Chimu, Inca)
VIA2c-2B. Equatorial-Tucanoan (Paracas, Nazca, Huari, Jivaro, Guarani, Tupi, Arawak)
VIA2c-3. Ge-Pano-Carib (Carib, Garifuna)
VIB1. Kartvelian (Georgian and relatives)
VIB2. Dravidian (Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Chola Empire, Pandya Dynasty, Vijayanagara, Elam, Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro)
VIB3. Afro-Asiatic
VIB3-I. Omotic (Kaffa, Mocha)
VIB3-II. Cushitic (Oromo, Somali, Beja, Sidamo, Afar, Gudit Dynasty)
VIB3-IIIA. E. Semitic (Akkadian, Babylonian, ancient Assyrian, Eblaite)
VIB3-IIIB. S. Semitic (Ge'ez, Tigrinya, Amharic, Sheba, Himyar, Punt, Dm't, Axum)
VIB3-IIIC1. Arabic (Arabic, Maltese)
VIB3-IIIC2. NW. Semitic (Hebrew, Canaanite, Phoenician, Moabite, Carthage, Ammonite, Edomite, Aramaic, modern Assyrian, Syrian)
VIB3-IVA. Chadic (Hausa and relatives)
VIB3-IVB. Egyptian (ancient Egypt, Coptic)
VIB3-IVC. Berber (Tuareg, ancient Libyan, Numidia, ancient Mauretania, Sijilmasa, "Troglodytes")
Even if some of the conclusions are mistaken, I think the goals of the project are laudable and, in my uninformed opinion, the conclusions are exciting. Presented here for illustration purposes is a simplified version of one such tree model, that of Joseph Greenberg, who pioneered the modern model of comparative linguistics, with branching details filled in by the work of researchers doing similar work. In this example, successive numbers at the same level illustrate a branching order, so that for example everything under 2-3 may be more closely related than everything under 1.
Greenberg's particular findings are controversial even among people sympathetic to his work. In particular, his Khoisan and Indo-Pacific families have come in for considerable scrutiny. The placement of the languages he terms Almosan, Korean, and Japanese, as well as the relationships of the highest-level families, are also controversial. But his work is a reference point for anyone doing similar work, and even researchers critical of his work often assume the existence of macrofamilies first established or defended by Greenberg. The identification of historic civilizations by language is also speculative. And I apologize for errors I've made here. The 12 basic families into which Greenberg divides the world's languages I have put in bold for reference.
IA. Nilo-Saharan
IA1a. Saharan (Zaghawa, Kanuri, Kanem-Bornu Empire)
IA1b. Songhay (Koyraboro Chiini, Koyra Chiini, Songhay Empire, Gao, Djenne, Timbuktu)
IA2. Fur (Sultanate of Darfur)
IA3a. Central Sudanic (Mangbetu, Efe pygmy language, Sao city-states)
IA3b-i. Nubian-Meroitic (Kush, Nubian kingdoms, Nubians)
IA3b-ii. Nilotic (Luo, Dinka, Maasai)
IB. Niger-Congo
IB1. Mande (Bambara, Mandinka, Soninke, medieval Ghana, Mali, and Bambara Empires, Caliphate of Bobo-Dioulasso)
IB2. Atlantic-Congo (Fula, Wolof, Fulani Sultanates, Tukulor Empire, Sokoto Caliphate)
IB3. Dogon-Bangi me (spoken in Mali)
IB4. Ijoid (new kingdom of Calabar)
IB5a. N. Volta (Kru, Mossi, Zande, Kingdom of Sosso)
IB5b-i. Kwa (Akan, Ewe, Fon, Ashanti Empire, Fante Confederacy, Kingdom of Dahomey)
IB5b-iia. W. Benue-Congo (Yoruba, Edo, Igbo, Kingdom of Benin, Igbo city-states, Kingdom of Bonny, Aro Confederacy)
IB5b-iib-I. Cross River (Ibibio, Efik, Ogoni, old Kingdom of Calabar)
IB5b-iib-II. Bantu (Rwanda, Rundi, Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Shona, Swazi, Baka and Mbuti pygmy languages, Herero, Mbundu, Kongo, Fang, Songo Confederacy, Luba Empire, Lunda Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Zulu Empire, Mogadishu, Zanzibar, Kilwa, Great Zimbabwe)
II. Australian (Warlpiri, Kala Lagaw Ya, Dharug, Guugu Yimithirr, Djabirr Djabirr)
III. Indo-Pacific
IIIA. Tasmanian (extinct languages of Tasmania)
IIIB1a. Great Andamanese (Sentinelese and other Andaman Island languages)
IIIB1b. W. Indo-Pacific (Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore, languages of W. New Guinea and Timor)
IIIB2. Nuclear Indo-Pacific (Enga, Wiru, and other languages of New Guinea and N. Australia)
IIIC. Pacific (Rotokas and other languages of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands)
IV. Khoisan (Khoekhoe, Nama, and other languages of "Hottentots," "Bushmen," and related African peoples)
VA. Dene-Caucasian
VA1. Ancient Sumerian
VA2. Na-Dene (Tlingit, Haida, Slavey, Carrier, Beaver, Hare, Hupa, Navajo, Apache)
VA3. Vasconic (Basque, ancient Iberian, Kingdom of Navarre)
VA4. N. Caucasian (Chechen, Circassian, Ingush, ancient Hurrian, Kingdom of Mitanni, Kingdom of Colchis, "Amazons," biblical Jebusites)
VA5a. Chinese (Mandarin, Shanghaiese, Cantonese, Taiwanese)
VA5b. Tibeto-Burmese (Tibetan, Burmese, Karen, Dzongkha)
VB. Austric
VB1a. Hmong-Mien (Hmong)
VB1b. Austro-Asiatic (Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, Santali, Angkor, Dvaravati)
VB2a. Tai-Kadai (Thai, Laotian, Shan, Zhuang)
VB2b-I. Philippine (Tagalog, Cebuano, Filipino, Kapampangan)
VB2b-IIA. Sama-Bajaw (languages of "sea gypsies")
VB2b-IIB. Barito (Malagasy and related languages of Madagascar, Borneo, and the Philippines)
VB2b-IIIA. Sunda-Sulawesi (Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Palauan, Chamorro, Malay, Chamic, Kingdoms of Champa, Sunda, Bali, Demak, Empires of Srivijaya and Majapahit, Sultanate of Aceh)
VB2b-IIIb. Oceanic (Micronesian, Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Maori, Hawaiian)
VIA1. Eurasiatic
VIA1a-I. Tyrsenian (Etruscan)
VIA1a-II. Indo-European
VIA1a-IIA. Anatolian (Hittite, Lydian)
VIA1a-IIB-1. Italic (Roman Empire, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian)
VIA1a-IIB-2. Celtic (Cornish, Welsh, Gaulish, Gaelic, Breton, biblical Tarshish)
VIA1a-IIC. Greco-Armenian (Greek, Armenian, Philistine, ancient Macedon, Albanian, Phrygian)
VIA1a-IID. Indo-Iranian (Sanskrit, Pali, Median, Persian, Scythian, Parthian, Hindustani, Romani "gypsy" languages, Nepali, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, Punjabi, Pashto, Kurdish)
VIA1a-IIE. Germanic (English, German, Dutch, Danish, Yiddish, Gothic, Norwegian, Swedish, Low German, Afrikaans, Frisian, Vandal)
VIA1a-IIF. Balto-Slavic (Polish, Czech, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, modern Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Prussian)
VIA1b-I. Korean-Japanese-Ainu (Korean, Japanese)
VIA1b-II. Altaic (Mongol, Manchu, Jurchen, Hsiong-Nu, Turkish, Kazakh, Chagatai, Uzbek, Khazar, Huns, ancient Bulgars)
VIA1c. Eskimo-Aleut (Inuit, Yupik, Aleut)
VIA1d. Uralic (Finnish, Saami, Samoyed, Hungarian, Estonian)
VIA2. Amerind
VIA2a-1. Otomanguean (Zapotec, Mixtec, Monte Alban)
VIA2a-2. Uto-Aztecan (Hopi, Shoshone, Comanche, Yaqui, Nahua, Tarahumara, Hohokam, Anasazi, Toltec, Aztec)
VIA2a-3. Kiowa-Tanoan (Kiowa, Tanoan Pueblo)
VIA2b-1A1. Hokan (Mojave, Yuma, Pomo, Shasta)
VIA2b-1A2a. Inland Penutian (Miwok, Yokuts, Klamath, Modoc, Nez Perce, Walla Walla, Cayuse, Appaloosa)
VIA2b-1A2b. Maritime Penutian (Tshimshian, Chinook, Coosa, Siuslaw)
VIA2b-1A2c. Zuni (language of NM and AZ, "Cibola")
VIA2b-1A2d. Macro-Mayan (Mayan, Olmec, Totonac, Teotihuacan, Tiwanaku)
VIA2b-1A2e. Gulf (Natchez, Chitimacha, Alabama, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, SE. Mississippians, Poverty Point, Moundville, Cahokia)
VIA2b-2A1. Iroquoian (Cherokee, Iroquois, Huron, Erie, Neutral, Tobacco, Susquehannock, Adena)
VIA2b-2A2. Siouan (Sioux, Crow, Winnebago, Omaha, Catawba, Cheraw, Osage, Kansa)
VIA2b-2A3. Yuchi (Tennessee language)
VIA2b-2A4. Keresan (Keres Pueblo, Mogollon)
VIA2b-2A5. Caddoan (Caddo, Wichita, Pawnee, Arikara, SW. Mississippians, "Quivira")
VIA2b-2B1. Algonquian (Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Cree, Chippewa, Kickapoo, Sauk, Fox, Illinois, Powhatan, Delaware, Mahican, Micmac, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Pequot, Narragansett, Wampanoag, Montagnais, Chickahominy, Hopewell, N. Mississippian)
VIA2b-2B2. Kootenai (spoken in B.C., MT, ID)
VIA2b-2B3a. Salishan (Flathead, Spokane, Kalispell, Flathead, Bella Coola, Lushootseed, Snohomish, Tillamook, Snohomish, Coeur d'Alene)
VIA2b-2B3b. Wakashan (Bella Bella, Nootka, Makah, Kwakiutl)
VIA2c-1. Chibchan-Paezan (Tarascan, Timucua, Chibcha, Muisca, "El Dorado," Miskito)
VIA2c-2A. Andean (Aymara, Quechua, Chavin, Moche, Chimu, Inca)
VIA2c-2B. Equatorial-Tucanoan (Paracas, Nazca, Huari, Jivaro, Guarani, Tupi, Arawak)
VIA2c-3. Ge-Pano-Carib (Carib, Garifuna)
VIB1. Kartvelian (Georgian and relatives)
VIB2. Dravidian (Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Chola Empire, Pandya Dynasty, Vijayanagara, Elam, Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro)
VIB3. Afro-Asiatic
VIB3-I. Omotic (Kaffa, Mocha)
VIB3-II. Cushitic (Oromo, Somali, Beja, Sidamo, Afar, Gudit Dynasty)
VIB3-IIIA. E. Semitic (Akkadian, Babylonian, ancient Assyrian, Eblaite)
VIB3-IIIB. S. Semitic (Ge'ez, Tigrinya, Amharic, Sheba, Himyar, Punt, Dm't, Axum)
VIB3-IIIC1. Arabic (Arabic, Maltese)
VIB3-IIIC2. NW. Semitic (Hebrew, Canaanite, Phoenician, Moabite, Carthage, Ammonite, Edomite, Aramaic, modern Assyrian, Syrian)
VIB3-IVA. Chadic (Hausa and relatives)
VIB3-IVB. Egyptian (ancient Egypt, Coptic)
VIB3-IVC. Berber (Tuareg, ancient Libyan, Numidia, ancient Mauretania, Sijilmasa, "Troglodytes")
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