A Steppe Ahead

August 10, 2023 10:10 AM

The authors of the study therefore proposed a new hybrid hypothesis for the origin of the Indo-European languages, with an ultimate homeland south of the Caucasus and a subsequent branch northwards onto the Steppe, as a secondary homeland for some branches of Indo-European entering Europe with the later Yamnaya and Corded Ware-associated expansions. “Ancient DNA and language phylogenetics thus combine to suggest that the resolution to the 200-year-old Indo-European enigma lies in a hybrid of the farming and Steppe hypotheses”, remarked Gray. from New insights into the origin of the Indo-European languages

Language trees with sampled ancestors support a hybrid model for the origin of Indo-European languages [Science]

posted by chavenet (3 comments total)

My understanding of current views of the spread of Indo-European languages was that they were based on a combination of linguistics, archeology, and religious views. Barring further evidence that supports this new model, I'll be sticking with the steppe hypothesis. One computational model is not enough to change an established theory. Would be happy to change my view if more evidence accumulates over a few years though.
posted by ockmockbock at 11:30 AM on August 10, 2023 [4 favorites]

I haven't read this latest paper, but historical linguists tend to be... unimpressed with these phylogenetic papers, which often rely on naive assumptions about rates of language change and come up with results that contradict linguistic and archaeological facts. That said, this paper does list a couple of respected Indo-Europeanists among the authors, which was not the case with Gray and Atkinson's previous productions.

Some discussion at Language Log and Language Hat (starting with the June 27 comment).
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 11:30 AM on August 10, 2023 [9 favorites]

Porque no los dos? In so many of these entrenched academic fire-fights it turns out that both sides are right in different ways. For e.g. the great 19thC shouting match about whether vultures hunt by smell (Team Waterton) or sight (Team Audubon) resolved when it transpired that each side had adopted a different hill species of vulture to die on. Phylogenetic methods, in other fields, have floated counter-intuitive ideas that were roundly dismissed when first proposed but have settled down as being widely accepted as true - cetartidactyla [MetaPrev] for one example.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:43 AM on August 10, 2023 [2 favorites]