Altaic languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Altaic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia | |
| Genetic classification: |
While the status of the family itself is controversial, language families encompassing Altaic together with other families have been proposed, such as the Ural-Altaic and Nostratic | |
| Subdivisions: |
Korean and its extinct relatives (often included)
Japonic and its extinct relatives (often included)
Ainu (rarely included)
|
|
 |
||
Altaic is a proposed language family which includes 66 languages [1] spoken by about 348 million people, mostly in and around Central Asia and northeast Asia. The relationships among these languages remain a matter of debate among historical linguists. Some scholars consider the obvious similarity among these languages to indicate a genetic relationship; others propose that it is the result of a sprachbund.
The proponents of Altaic traditionally considered it to include the Turkic languages, the Mongolic languages, the Tungusic languages (or Manchu-Tungus), and sometimes Japanese or Korean. Castrén (1862) put forward a similar view, but classified Turkic with what is now called Uralic. In 1857 Anton Boller suggested adding Korean and Japanese; for Korean, G.J. Ramstedt and E.D. Polivanov put forward more etymologies in the 1920's. Korean has commonly been linked to Japonic, and in 1971, Roy Miller suggested relating Japonic to both Korean and Altaic. These suggestions were taken up and developed by various historical linguists such as John Whitman, Sergei Starostin, and Alexander Vovin (who later changed his opinion and strongly rejected the hypothesis of a genetic connection between Korean and Japanese).[1]
There have been some attempts to extend the Altaic family borders by including Ainu (e.g., Street 1962, Patrie 1982), Tamil, Nivkh, or Hungarian, but these proposals have been rejected by the majority of scholars. A proposed grouping that includes Japanese and Korean and possibly Ainu is sometimes called "Macro-Altaic", with "Micro-Altaic" occasionally used to specifically refer to the association of only the Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic languages. Possible genetic connections of Altaic or Macro-Altaic with some other Eurasian languages (especially Indo-European and Uralic) have been explored in connection with the Eurasiatic macrofamily proposed by Joseph Greenberg and with Nostratic.
Contents |
[edit] Controversy
There are two main schools of thought about the Altaic theory. One is that the proposed constituent language families (Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic in the basic theory, with the addition of Korean and Japanese in extended versions) are genetically or "divergently" related by descent from a common ancestor, "Proto-Altaic". The other school rejects this theory (so it is often called the "Anti-Altaic" school) and argues that the member languages are related by convergence (mainly loan influence).
The Altaic theory is claimed by its opponents to be based mainly on typological similarities, such as vowel harmony and agglutinative grammars. In fact, its proponents (e.g., Ramstedt, Poppe, Starostin) have put together a large variety of grammatical, lexical, and syntactic regular correspondences between the sub-groups of Altaic. However, its opponents explain these as loanwords, mutual influence, or convergence, arguing that, although the Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic families do have similarities, they merely form a Sprachbund – the result of intensive borrowing and long contact among speakers.
The Altaic theory is highly controversial. While some support it, others (e.g. Doerfer 1988) do not regard Altaic as a valid group and see it as three (or more) separate language families. Other linguists, such as Bernard Comrie (1992, 2003), argue that Altaic may be part of a larger grouping, such as Nostratic and/or Eurasiatic. In contrast, J. Marshall Unger (1990) believes that languages such as Korean and Japanese may be part of a "macro-Tungusic" family. Vovin rejected the claim for a Koreo-Japonic branch of Altaic on the basis that, according to him, they have no shared innovations.[citation needed]
[edit] Reconstructed phonology
Based on the proposed correspondences listed below, the following phoneme inventory has been reconstructed for the Proto(-Macro)-Altaic language (taken from Blažek's [2006] summary of the newest Altaic etymological dictionary [Starostin et al. 2003] and transcribed into IPA):
[edit] Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar or dental | Alveolopalatal | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | aspirated | /pʰ/ | /tʰ/ | /kʰ/ | |||
| voiceless | /p/ | /t/ | /k/ | ||||
| voiced | /b/ | /d/ | /g/ | ||||
| Affricates | aspirated | /t͡ʃʰ/ | |||||
| voiceless | /t͡ʃ/ | ||||||
| voiced | /d͡ʒ/ | ||||||
| Fricatives | voiceless | /s/ | /ʃ/ | ||||
| voiced | /z/¹ | ||||||
| Nasals | /m/ | /n/ | /nʲ/ | /ŋ/ | |||
| Trills | /r/² | /rʲ/ | |||||
| Approximants | /l/ | /lʲ/ | /j/² | ||||
¹ This phoneme only occurred at the beginnings of words.
² These phonemes only occurred in the interior of words.
[edit] Vowels
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | ||
| Close | /i/ | /y/ | /u/ |
| Mid | /e/ | /ø/ | /o/ |
| Near-open | /æ/ | ||
| Open | /a/ | ||
It is not clear whether /æ/, /ø/, /y/ were monophthongs as shown here (presumably [æ œ~ø ʏ~y]) or diphthongs ([i̯a~i̯ɑ i̯ɔ~i̯o i̯ʊ~i̯u]); the evidence is equivocal. In any case, however, they only occurred in the first syllable of any word.
[edit] Sound correspondences
If a Proto(-Macro)-Altaic language really existed, it should be possible to reconstruct regular sound correspondences between that protolanguage and its descendants; such correspondences would make it possible to distinguish cognates from loanwords (in many cases). Such attempts have repeatedly been made. The latest and (so far) most successful version is reproduced here, taken from Blažek's (2006) summary of the newest Altaic etymological dictionary (Starostin et al. 2003) and transcribed into IPA.
When a Proto-Altaic phoneme developed differently depending on its position in a word (beginning, interior, or end), the special case (or all cases) is marked with a hyphen; for example, Proto-Altaic /pʰ/ disappears (marked "0") or becomes /j/ at the beginning of a Turkic word and becomes /p/ elsewhere in a Turkic word.
[edit] Consonants
| Proto-Altaic | Proto-Turkic | Proto-Mongolic | Proto-Tungusic | Proto-Korean | Proto-Japonic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /pʰ/ | 0-, /j/-, /p/ | /h/-¹, /j/-, -/b/-, -/h/-¹, -/b/ | /p/ | /p/ | /p/ |
| /tʰ/ | /t/-, /d/-², /t/ | /t/, /t͡ʃ/³, -/d/ | /t/ | /t/ | /t/ |
| /kʰ/ | /k/ | /k/-, -/k/-, -/g/-4, -/g/ | /x/-, /k/, /x/ | /k/, /h/ | /k/ |
| /p/ | /b/ | /b/-, /h/-¹, /b/ | /p/-, /b/ | /p/ | /p/ |
| /t/ | /d/-, /t/ | /t/, /t͡ʃ/³ | /d/-, /d͡ʒ/-5, /t/ | /t/, -/r/- | /t/-, /d/-, /t/ |
| /k/ | /k/-, /k/, /g/6 | /k/-, /g/ | /k/-, /g/-, /g/ | /k/-, -/h/-, -0-, -/k/ | /k/ |
| /b/ | /b/ | /b/-, -/h/-, -/b/-7, -/b/ | /b/ | /p/, -/b/- | /p/-, /w/, /b/8, /p/9 |
| /d/ | /j/-, /d/ | /d/, /d͡ʒ/³ | /d/ | /t/, -/r/- | /d/-, /t/-, /t/, /j/ |
| /g/ | /g/ | /g/-, -/h/-, -/g/-4, -/g/ | /g/ | /k/, -/h/-, -0- | /k/-, /k/, 010 |
| /t͡ʃʰ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /t/ |
| /t͡ʃ/ | /d/-, /t͡ʃ/ | /d/-, /d͡ʒ/-³, /t͡ʃ/ | /s/-, -/d͡ʒ/-, -/s/- | /t͡ʃ/ | /t/-, -/s/- |
| /d͡ʒ/ | /j/ | /d͡ʒ/ | /d͡ʒ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | /d/-, /j/ |
| /s/ | /s/ | /s/ | /s/ | /s/-, /h/-, /s/ | /s/ |
| /ʃ/ | /s/-, /t͡ʃ/-11, /s/ | /s/-, /t͡ʃ/-11, /s/ | /ʃ/ | /s/ | /s/ |
| /z/ | /j/ | /s/ | /s/ | /s/ | /s/ |
| /m/ | /b/-, -/m/- | /m/ | /m/ | /m/ | /m/ |
| /n/ | /j/-, -/n/- | /n/ | /n/ | /n/ | /n/ |
| /nʲ/ | /j/-, /nʲ/ | /d͡ʒ/-, /j/, /n/ | /nʲ/ | /n/-, /nʲ/ | /m/-, /n/, /m/ |
| /ŋ/ | 0-, /j/-, /ŋ/ | 0-, /j/-, /g/-12, /n/-13, /ŋ/, /n/, /m/, /h/ | /ŋ/ | /n/-, /ŋ/, 0 | 0-, /n/-, /m/-5, /m/, /n/ |
| /r/ | /r/ | /r/ | /r/ | /r/ | /r/, /t/14 |
| /rʲ/ | /rʲ/ | /r/ | /r/ | /r/ | /r/, /t/ |
| /l/ | /j/-, /l/ | /n/-, /l/-, /l/ | /l/ | /n/-, /r/ | /n/-, /r/ |
| /lʲ/ | /j/-, /lʲ/ | /d/-, /d͡ʒ/-³, /l/ | /l/ | /n/-, /r/ | /n/-, /s/ |
| /j/ | /j/ | /j/, /h/ | /j/ | /j/, 0 | /j/, 0 |
- ¹ The Monguor language has /f/ here instead (Kaiser & Shevoroshkin 1988); it is therefore possible that Proto-Mongolian also had /f/ which then became /h/ (and then usually disappeared) in all descendants except Monguor. Tabgač and Kitan, two extinct Mongolic languages not considered by Starostin et al. (2003), even preserve /p/ in these places (Blažek 2006).
- ² This happened when the next consonant in the word was /lʲ/, /rʲ/, or /r/.
- ³ In front of /i/.
- 4 When the next consonant in the word was /h/.
- 5 When followed by /æ/, /ø/, /y/.
- 6 When the next consonant in the word was /r/.
- 7 When the preceding consonant was /r/, /rʲ/, /l/, or /lʲ/, or when the next consonant was /g/.
- 8 When the following vowel was /a/, /ə/, or followed by /j/.
- 9 When followed by /i/ and then another vowel, or by /j/.
- 10 When preceded by a vowel preceded by /i/.
- 11 When followed by /a/.
- 12 When followed by /u/.
- 13 When followed by /a/, /o/, or /e/.
- 14 When followed by /i/ or /u/.
[edit] Vowels
Vowel harmony is pervasive in Altaic languages: most Turkic and Mongolic as well as some Tungusic languages have it, Korean is arguably in the process of losing its traces, and it is reconstructed for Old Japanese. (Vowel harmony is also typical of the neighboring Uralic languages and was often counted among the arguments for the Ural-Altaic hypotheses.) Nevertheless, Starostin et al. (2003) reconstruct Proto-Altaic as lacking vowel harmony. Instead, according to them, vowel harmony originated in each daughter branch as assimilation of the vowel in the first syllable to the vowel in the last syllable (which was usually lost later), a phenomenon remarkably similar to Germanic umlaut. The table below is taken from Blažek (2006):
| Proto-Altaic | Proto-Turkic | Proto-Mongolic | Proto-Tungusic | Middle Korean | Proto-Japonic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first s. | last s. | first syllable | ||||
| /a/ | /a/ | /a/ | /a/ | /a/ | /a/, /ə/ | /a/ |
| /a/ | /e/ | /a/, /ɯ/ | /a/, /i/ | /a/ | /a/, /ə/ | /ə/ |
| /a/ | /i/ | /e/, /a/ | /a/, /e/ | /a/ | /a/, /ə/, /i/ | /i/ |
| /a/ | /o/ | /o/, /ja/, /aj/ | /a/, /i/, /e/ | /a/ | /a/, /o/ | /a/ |
| /a/ | /u/ | /a/ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /a/ | /a/, /ə/, /o/, /u/ | /u/ |
| /e/ | /a/ | /a/, /e/ | /a/, /e/ | /e/ | /a/, /ə/ | /a/ |
| /e/ | /e/ | /e/, /ja/ | /e/, /ja/ | /e/ | /a/, /ə/, /i/, /ɯ/ | /ə/ |
| /e/ | /i/ | /e/, /ja/ | /e/, /i/ | /e/ | /i/, /ɯ/, /a/, /ə/ | /i/ |
| /e/ | /o/ | /a/, /e/ | /a/, /e/, /y/², /ø/² | /e/ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /ə/, /a/ |
| /e/ | /u/ | /e/, /a/ | /e/, /a/, /o/² | /e/ | /o/, /u/, /a/ | /u/ |
| /i/ | /a/ | /ɯ/, /i/ | /i/ | /i/ | /a/, /ə/ | /a/ |
| /i/ | /e/ | /e/ | /e/, /i/ | /i/ | /i/, /ɯ/ | /i/ |
| /i/ | /i/ | /i/ | /i/, /e/¹ | /i/ | /i/ | /i/ |
| /i/ | /o/ | /ɯ/ | /i/ | /i/ | /o/, /u/, /ɯ/ | /i/, /ə/ |
| /i/ | /u/ | /ɯ/, /i/ | /i/ | /i/ | /i/, /ɯ/ | /u/ |
| /o/ | /a/ | /o/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /a/, /ə/ | /a/ |
| /o/ | /e/ | /ø/, /o/ | /ø/, /y/, /o/ | /o/, /u/ | /ɯ/, /o/, /u/ | /ə/ |
| /o/ | /i/ | /ø/, /o/ | /ø/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /u/ |
| /o/ | /o/ | /o/ | /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /a/, /ə/ | /ə/ |
| /o/ | /u/ | /o/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /u/ |
| /u/ | /a/ | /u/, /o/ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /a/, /ə/ | /a/ |
| /u/ | /e/ | /y/ | /o/, /u/, /y/ | /u/ | /a/, /ə/ | /ua/, /a/¹ |
| /u/ | /i/ | /y/, /u/ | /y/, /ø/ | /u/ | /o/, /u/, /ɯ/ | /u/ |
| /u/ | /o/ | /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/, /ɯ/ | /ə/ |
| /u/ | /u/ | /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /u/ |
| /æ/ | /a/ | /ia/, /ja/, /e/ | /a/ | /ia/, /i/³ | /a/ | /a/ |
| /æ/ | /e/ | /ia/, /ja/ | /i/, /a/, /e/ | /i/ | /i/, /ə/, /jə/ | /ə/ |
| /æ/ | /i/ | /ia/, /ja/, /e/ | /i/, /e/ | /ia/, /i/³ | /a/, /ə/, /jə/ | /i/ |
| /æ/ | /o/ | /ia/, /ja/, /a/¹ | /e/ | /o/, /u/ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /a/ |
| /æ/ | /u/ | /e/, /a/ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/, /ə/, /jə/ | /u/ |
| /ø/ | /a/ | /ia/, /ja/, /a/¹ | /a/, /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/, /a/ | /a/ |
| /ø/ | /e/ | /e/, /a/ | /e/, /ø/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/, /jə/ | /ə/, /u/ |
| /ø/ | /i/ | /ia/, /ja/, /a/¹ | /i/, /e/, /ø/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/, /a/ | /i/ |
| /ø/ | /o/ | /o/, /u/ | /ø/, /y/, /o/, /u/ | /i/ | /i/, /ə/, /jə/ | /ə/, /a/ |
| /ø/ | /u/ | /u/, /o/ | /e/, /i/, /u/ | /ia/, /i/³ | /a/, /u/, /jə/ | /u/ |
| /y/ | /a/ | /ɯ/ | /o/, /u/, /i/ | /o/, /u/ | /a/, /ə/ | /a/ |
| /y/ | /e/ | /y/, /ø/, /i/4 | /ø/, /y/, /o/, /u/ | /y/, /u/¹ | /a/, /ə/, /ja/, /jə/, /o/, /u/ | /u/, /ə/ |
| /y/ | /i/ | /y/, /ø/ | /ø/, /y/, /o/, /u/ | /i/, /u/¹ | /ɯ/, /i/, /o/, /u/ | /i/ |
| /y/ | /o/ | /u/, /o/ | /o/, /u/ | /y/ | /a/, /ə/, /ja/, /jə/, /o/, /u/ | /u/, /ə/ |
| /y/ | /u/ | /ɯ/ | /i/, /o/, /u/, /y/, /ø/ | /o/, /u/ | /o/, /u/, /i/, /ɯ/ | /u/ |
- ¹ When preceded by a bilabial consonant.
- ² When preceded or followed by a bilabial consonant.
- ³ When preceded by a fricative (/s/, /ʃ/, /x/).
- 4 When followed by a trill, /l/, or /lʲ/.
[edit] Morphological correspondences
Because grammar is less easily borrowed than words, grammar is usually considered stronger evidence for language relationships than vocabulary. Starostin et al. (2003) have reconstructed the following correspondences between the case and number suffixes (or clitics) of the (Macro-)Altaic languages (taken from Blažek, 2006):
| Case | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Altaic | Proto-Turkic (*), Old Turkic | Proto-Mongolic (*), Classical Mongolian | Proto-Tungusic | Proto-Korean (*), Middle Korean | Proto-Japonic (*), Old Japanese |
| nominative: 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| accusative: /be/ | /ba/, /be/ | /wo/ | |||
| partitive: /ga/ | -/ʁ/, -/ɯʁ/, -/g/, -/ig/ | *-/ʁ/ (accusative) | /ga/ | /ga/ (possessive) | |
| genitive: -/nʲV/ | -/ŋ/ | *-/n/ | -/ŋi/ | -/nʲ/ | /no/ |
| dative-locative: /du/, /da/ | -/ta/, -/da/, -/te/, -/de/ (locative-ablative) | -/da/ (dative-locative), -/du/ (attributive) | /du/ (dative), -/daː/- (locative) | -/tu/ (attributive-locative) | |
| dative-instrumental: -/nV/ | -/n/, -/ɯn/, -/in/ (instrumental) | /ni/ (dative-locative) | |||
| dative-directive: -/kʰV/ | -/qa/, -/ke/ (dative) | /kiː/ (directive) | |||
| comitative-locative: -/lV/ | -/li/, -/lɯʁ/ | /laː/ (locative), -/liː/ (prolative), -/luʁa/ (comitative) | -/ro/ (instrumental-lative) | ||
| comitative-equative: -/t͡ʃʰa/ | -/t͡ʃa/, -/t͡ʃe/ (equative) | /t͡ʃa/ (ablative), /t͡ʃa/, /t͡ʃaʁa/ (terminative) | /to/ (comitative) | ||
| allative: -/gV/ | -/ʁaru/, -/gery/ (directive) | *-/ʁa/, -/a/ | /giː/ (allative) | -/əi/ | |
| directive: -/rV/ | -/ʁaru/, -/gery/ | -/ru/ | -/ro/ (lative) | ||
| instrumental-ablative: -/d͡ʒV/ | *?-/ja/, -/a/ terminal dative | /d͡ʒi/ | /ju/ (ablative) | ||
| singulative: -/nV/ | *-/n/ | -/n/ | |||
| Number | |||||
| dual: -/rʲV/ | *-/rʲ/ (plural for paired objects) | -/r/ (plural) | *-/rə/ (plural for paired objects) | ||
| plural: -/tʰ/- | *-/t/ | -/d/ | -/ta/, -/te/, -/tan/, -/ten/ | *-/tɯr/ | *-/tati/ |
| plural: -/s/- | *-/s/ | -/sal/ | |||
| plural: -/l/- | *-/lar/ | *-/nar/ | -/l/, -/sal/ | *-/ra/ | |
/V/ symbolizes an uncertain vowel. Suffixes reconstructed for Proto-Turkic, Proto-Mongolic, Proto-Korean, or Proto-Japonic, but not attested in Old Turkic, Classical Mongolian, Middle Korean, or Old Japanese are marked with asterisks.
[edit] Selected cognates
Personal pronouns are thought by many to be seldom borrowed between languages. Therefore the many correspondences between Altaic pronouns found by Starostin et al. (2003) could be rather strong evidence for the existence of Proto-Altaic. The table below is taken (with slight modifications) from Blažek (2006) and transcribed into IPA.
| Proto-Altaic | Proto-Turkic | Proto-Mongolic (*), Classical Mongolian | Proto-Tungusic | Proto-Korean (*), Middle Korean | Proto-Japonic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "I" (nominative) | /bi/ | /be/ | */bi/ | /bi/ | /ba/ | |
| "me" (oblique cases) | /mine/- | /men/ | */min/- | /min/- | ||
| "I" | /ŋa/ | */nad/-, -/m/- (oblique) | /na/ | /a/- | ||
| "thou" (nominative) | /si/ and/or /tʰi/ | /se/ | */t͡ʃi/ | /si/ | /si/ | |
| "thee" (oblique cases) | /sin/- and/or /tʰin/- | /sen/ | ?*/t͡ʃin/- | |||
| "thou" | /na/ | -/ŋ/ | */nə/ | /na/ | ||
| "we" (nominative) | /ba/ | /birʲ/ | */ba/ | /bue/ | /uri/ | /ba/ |
| "us" (oblique cases) | /myn/- | */man/- | /myn/- | |||
| "ye" (nominative) | /sV/ and/or /tʰV/ | /s/ | */ta/ | /suː/ | ||
| "you" (oblique) | /sVn/- | /sun/- |
As above, forms not attested in Classical Mongolian or Middle Korean but reconstructed for their ancestors are marked with an asterisk, and /V/ represents an uncertain vowel.
The following table is a brief selection of further proposed[citation needed] cognates in basic vocabulary across the Altaic family. It is older than Starostin et al. (2003) and does not follow its phonology reconstruction. The Turkish words are given in Turkish orthography, one of the common transcriptions is used for Japanese, and Mongolian, Evenki and Korean (presumably Middle Korean) are given in ad hoc transcriptions, as is Proto-Altaic. The reconstruction of Old Japanese pronunciation does not seem up-to-date.
| English | Proto-Altaic (?) | Turkish | Mongolian | Evenki | Korean | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| three | *göl- | üç | gurav | kokono- '9' (ie: '3 times 3') | ||
| four | *dör1- | dört | döröv | dygin | yo- | |
| ten | *tuwon- | on | arav | ʒuwan | yol | tō- (töwö Old Japanese) |
| I | *men | ben | bi | na | wa (Old Japanese) | |
| you | *sen | sen | chini (your, yours) | dangsin | ||
| we | *bir2 | biz | bide | |||
| heart / chest | *kökür2 | göğüs ('breast') | kökün (Lit.Mongolian) | kogäŋi | kokoro | |
| arm | *gara | kol | gar | pal | kata | |
| rind | *kapa | kabuk | χudas | χabdata | kaphar/keopjil | kawa |
| knee / heel | *topu | topuk | uvdug | tobga | tumpu | |
| belly | *kurgo | kursak | χurχag | χuike | kurgi |
[edit] Literature
- Blažek, V.: "Current Progress in Altaic Etymology", Linguistica Online 30 January 2006 (pdf)
- Doerfer, G.: Grundwort und Sprachmischung: Eine Untersuchung an Hand von Körperteilbezeichnungen (Münchener Ostasiatische Studien 47), Franz-Steiner-Verlag, 1988
- Miller, R.A.: Languages and history. Japanese, Korean and Altaic, Inst. for Comparative Research in Human C, 1996, [ISBN 974-8299-69-4].
- Georg, S., Michalove, P.A., Manaster Ramer, A., Sidwell, P.J.: "Telling general linguists about Altaic", Journal of Linguistics 35 (1999): 65-98 Online abstract
- Kortlandt, F.: "The origin of the Japanese and Korean accent systems", Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 26 (1993): 57–65 (pdf)
- Ruhlen, M.: A Guide to the World's Languages, Stanford University Press (1987).
- Starostin, S.A., Dybo, A., Mudrak, O.: Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages, Brill Academic Publishers, June 2003, [ISBN 90-04-13153-1].
- LINGUIST Mailing List, 18 Aug 1994, Reinhard F. Hahn
[edit] See also
- Language families and languages
- Altay language (a Turkic language)
- Nostratic languages
[edit] External links
- Starling Databases: Altaic etymology section
- Monumenta Altaica - Altaic Linguistics
- Language article from Encarta
- Ethnologue
| Altaic languages | ||||
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