An Essay on the Origin and Classification of Languages

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An Essay on the Origin and Classification of
Languages

• Fernando M Q Pereira

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Why to Classify Languages?

• How many different languages exist?
• How old are the languages?
• Is there a common ancestor of all the languages?
• How do languages evolve?

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Classification Systems

• Areal Classification
• Typological Classification
• Genetic Classification

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Universal versus Specific

• Which properties are present in every language?
• Which properties are specific of some languages?

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Typological Classification 1

• Isolating/root/analytic languages
• Agglutinating languages
• Lat. agglutinare to glue together
• Inflectional/fusion languages

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Typological Classification 2

• SVO
• SOV
• VSO
• VOS
• OVS
• OSV

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Genetic Classification

• Most languages share common ancestors.
• Genetic markers characteristics shared by
  related languages that hardly would happen by
  chance.
• Cognate words.
• Glottochronology

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Stocks of Related Languages

• Niger-Congo
• Austronesian,
• Trans-New Guine,
• Indo-European,
• Sino-Tibetan
• Afro-Asiatic
• Nilo-Saharan

• Oto-Manguean
• Austro-Asiatic
• Sepik-Ramu
• Tai-kadai
• Tupi
• Dravidian
• Mayan

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Applications

• The age of languages
• Language reconstruction

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Diversification of Languages

• Small, isolated populations.
• Social stratification.
• Contact between cultures.
• Pidgin,
• Creole.

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Examples

• Russian lt- East Slavic lt- Slavic lt- Indo-European
• Sister languages Belarusian, Ukrainian, Rusyn
• Franch lt- Oil lt- Gallo-Rhaetian lt- Gallo-Romance
  lt- Italic Romance lt- Indo-European
• Sister languages Lombard, Piedmontese, Ligurian,
  Franco-Provencal
• Mandarin lt- Chinese lt- Sino-Tibetan
• Sister languages Wu, Xiang, Gan, Hakka,
  Cantonese, Min.