Nostratic
Sifting the Evidence
Editors
The “Nostratic” hypothesis — positing a common linguistic ancestor for a wide range of language families including Indo-European, Uralic, and Afro-Asiatic — has produced one of the most enduring and often intense controversies in linguistics. Overwhelmingly, though, both supporters of the hypothesis and those who reject it have not dealt directly with one another’s arguments. This volume brings together selected representatives of both sides, as well as a number of agnostic historical linguists, with the aim of examining the evidence for this particular hypothesis in the context of distant genetic relationships generally.
The volume contains discussion of variants of the Nostratic hypothesis (A. Bomhard; J. Greenberg; A. Manaster-Ramer, K. Baertsch, K. Adams, & P. Michalove), the mathematics of chance in determining the relationships posited for Nostratic (R. Oswalt; D. Ringe), and the evidence from particular branches posited in Nostratic (L. Campbell; C. Hodge; A. Vovin), with responses and additional discussion by E. Hamp, B. Vine, W. Baxter and B. Comrie.
The volume contains discussion of variants of the Nostratic hypothesis (A. Bomhard; J. Greenberg; A. Manaster-Ramer, K. Baertsch, K. Adams, & P. Michalove), the mathematics of chance in determining the relationships posited for Nostratic (R. Oswalt; D. Ringe), and the evidence from particular branches posited in Nostratic (L. Campbell; C. Hodge; A. Vovin), with responses and additional discussion by E. Hamp, B. Vine, W. Baxter and B. Comrie.
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 142] 1998. vi, 293 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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IntroductionJoseph C. Salmons and Brian D. Joseph | p. 1
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I. The Nature and Status of Nostratic
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Some Draft Principles for ClassificationEric P. Hamp | p. 13
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Nostratic, Eurasiatic, and Indo-EuropeanAllan R. Bomhard | p. 17
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The Convergence of Eurasiatic and NostraticJoseph H. Greenberg | p. 51
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Exploring the Nostratic HypothesisAlexis Manaster-Ramer, Peter A. Michalove, Karen S. Baertsch and Karen L. Adams | p. 61
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Indo-European and Nostratic: Some further commentsBrent Vine | p. 85
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Nostratic: A personal assessmentLyle Campbell | p. 107
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II. The Mathematics of Nostratic
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A Probabilistic Evaluation of Indo-UralicDon Ringe | p. 153
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A Probabilistic Evaluation of North Eurasiatic NostraticRobert L. Oswalt | p. 199
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Response to Oswalt and RingeWilliam H. Baxter | p. 217
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III. Relationships within Nostratic
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The Implications of Lislakh for NostraticCarleton T. Hodge | p. 237
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Nostratic and AltaicAlexander Vovin | p. 257
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Regular Sound Correspondences and Long-Distance Genetic ComparisonBernard Comrie | p. 271
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Indices
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Index of Subjects | p. 277
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Index of Languages | p. 281
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Index of Names | p. 287
“Greenberg's paper is a welcome programmatic introduction to this thinking on Nostratic and Eurasiatic [...] The papers, by Manaster-Ramer et al. Vine and Campbell, represent [...] the best of what current historical linguistics has to offer: philological depth, methodological and theoretical aophistication, and historical sensitivity. Each could be required reading for advanced courses in historical linguistics. [...] Campbell shows a depth and sophistication in his assessment of the Nostratic issue that is a model of scholarly research.”
Philip Baldi, Penn State University in Linguistics Vol 36-2000
“[I]t seemed high time to bring prominent proponents of the theory together with some of their most prominent critics, and to see whether some kind of consensus could be reached, if not on the Nostratic theory itself, then at least on criteria for a proper evaluation of its methods and claims. In doing this, this collection of papers is an innovative and welcome endeavor. [...] For any linguist wishing to find an introduction to the nature and problems of the Nostratic debate, this book, more than any single work, should serve as the point of entry.”
Stefan Georg, University of Leiden in Anthropological Linguistics Vol. 42, no. 3
“[A] good state of the art report of Nostratic Studies. [...] It helps the clarification of concepts. It proves that it is worthwhile to deal with.”
Gy. Décsy in Eurasian Studies Yearbook 72(2000)
“[A]n excellent snap-shot of the state of the art, and a very instructive one.”
Paul Sidwell, Australian National University
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Kaplan, Judith R.H.
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Subjects
Linguistics
Main BIC Subject
CF: Linguistics
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General