From Handwiki The following is a list of proposed language families, which connect established families into larger genetic groups; support for these proposals varies; the Dené–Yeniseian languages for example, are a recent proposal which has been generally well received, whereas reconstructions of the Proto-World language are often viewed as fringe science; proposals which are themselves based on other proposals have the likelihood of their parts noted in parentheses.
| Proposed name | Description | Agree | Disagree | Doubt | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alarodian | Northeast Caucasian with extinct Hurro-Urartian | ||||
| Ibero-Caucasian | Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian, and Kartvelian | ||||
| Karasuk | Yeniseian and Burushaski | ||||
| Kongo–Saharan | Niger–Congo and Nilo-Saharan | ||||
| Macro-Pama–Nyungan | Several Australian language families. | ||||
| Miao–Dai | Hmong–Mien and Kra–Dai | Ryuichi Kosaka (initiator) | ? | ? | [1] |
| Nilo-Saharan | Many families of central Africa. | ||||
| Nivkh–Kamchukotic | Nivkh and Chukotko-Kamchatkan | ||||
| North Caucasian | Northwest Caucasian and Northeast Caucasian | ||||
| Uralic–Yukaghir | Uralic and Yukaghir |
| Proposed name | Description | Agree | Disagree | Doubt | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austric | Austroasiatic and Austronesian | Wilhelm Schmidt (initiator), La Vaughn H., Lawrence Reid, G. Diffloth, Paul Sidwell, Paul K. Benedict (later rejected), Sergei Starostin, John Bengtson, ASJP | - | Robert Blust, Paul K. Benedict | [2][3][4] |
| Austroasiatic, Austronesian, and Japanese | Wilhelm Schmidt (initiator) | - | |||
| Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, and Kra-Dai | Paul K. Benedict (initiator, later rejected), Sergei Starostin, John Bengtson | - | |||
| Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, Kra-Dai, Nihali, and Ainu | John Bengtson (initiator) | - | |||
| Austro-Tai | Austronesian and Kra–Dai | Paul Benedict (initiator, also including Japanese), Ostapirat, Smith | Thurgood | Sagart | [5] |
| Greater North Borneo | Malayic, Chamic, Land Dayak, Sundanese, Rejang, Kayanic, and others. | Blust (initiator) and Smith | ? | ? | [6] |
| Malayic, Chamic, Land Dayak, Sundanese, Rejang, Kayanic, and others (including Moklenic) | Blust (initiator) | Smith | - | [7] | |
| Malayo-Sumbawan | Malayic, Chamic, Sundanese, Madurese, and Bali–Sasak–Sumbawa | K. Alexander Adelaar (initiator) and Nikolaus Himmelmann | Blust and Smith | - | [8] |
| Sino-Austronesian | Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, and Kra–Dai | Laurent Sagart (initiator), Stanley Starosta | Weera Ostapirat, Alexander Vovin, George van Driem | Paul Jen-kuei Li and Robert Blust | [9][10] |
| Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, Kra–Dai, Austroasiatic and Hmong–Mien | Stanley Starosta (initiator) | [11] |
| Proposed name | Description | Agree | Disagree | Doubt | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daco-Thracian | Dacian and Thracian | Russu, Georg Solta, Vraciu, Crossland, Trask, McHenry, Mihailov, Crossland | Vladimir I. Georgiev | - | [12] |
| Graeco-Armenian | Hellenic and Armenian | Holger Pedersen (initiator), Antoine Meillet, Eric Hamp, James Clackson, Luay Nakhleh, Tandy Warnow, Donald Ringe and Steven N. Evans | ? | G. R. Solta, Hrach Martirosyan | [13] |
| Graeco-Aryan | Hellenic, Armenian, and Indo-Iranian | Wolfram Euler, A. C. Renfrew, James Clackson | ? | ?
| |
| Graeco-Phrygian | Hellenic and Phrygian | Claude Brixhe, Neumann, Matzinger, Woodhouse, Ligorio, Lubotsky, and Obrador-Cursach | ? | ? | |
| Italo-Celtic | Italic and Celtic | Frederik Kortlandt, Peter Schrijver, Schrijver | Calvert Watkins | - | [14][15] |
| Indo-Hittite | The split of Anatolian languages from Indo-European | ? | ? | Hans Holm | [16] |
| Indo-Uralic | Indo-European and Uralic | Holger Pedersen (initiator), Kortlandt, Hannes Sköld, Alwin Kloekhorst, and Nikolai Dmitrievich Andreev | Christian Carpelan, Asko Parpola, Petteri Koskikallio, Angela Marcantonio, and Johan Schalin | - | [17] |
| Indo-European and Uralic–Yukaghir | Kortlandt (initiator) | - | [18] | ||
| Pontic | Northwest Caucasian and Indo-European | Émile Benveniste, Winfred P. Lehmann, Aert Kuipers , and John Colarusso | ? | ? | [19] |
| Thraco-Illyrian | Thracian and Illyrian | Ion Russu, Sorin Paliga | Vladimir Georgiev, Ivan Duridanov, Eric Hamp | - | [20] |
| Proposed name | Description | Agree | Disagree | Doubt | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aztec–Tanoan | Uto-Aztecan and Tanoan. | ||||
| Gulf | Muskogean with four extinct isolates on US gulf. | ||||
| Hokan | A dozen languages on west coast of North America | ||||
| Je–Tupi–Carib | Macro-Jê (likely), Tupian and Cariban of South America. | ||||
| Macro-Chibchan | Lencan, Misumalpan and Chibchan merge into one language family. (probably also Xincan) | ||||
| Macro-Jê | 11 language families of South America | ||||
| Macro-Panoan | Pano–Takanan (likely) and Moseten–Chonan (likely) | ||||
| Macro-Siouan | Siouan, Iroquoian, Caddoan, and Yuchi. | ||||
| Mataco–Guaicuru | Matacoan, Guaicuruan, Mascoian, and Charruan of South America | ||||
| Penutian | Some languages in western North America | ||||
| Quechumaran | Quechuan and Aymaran | ||||
| Totozoquean | Totonacan and Mixe–Zoque in Mesoamerica. | ||||
| Yuki–Wappo | Yuki and Wappo, both extinct. |
| Proposed name | Description | Agree | Disagree | Doubt | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dene–Yeniseian | Na-Dené and Yeniseian | Alfredo Trombetti (initiator), Merritt Ruhlen, Edward Vajda, Michael Krauss, Jeff Leer, James Kari, Heinrich Werner, Bernard Comrie, Johanna Nichols, Victor Golla, Michael Fortescue, Eric Hamp, Bill Poser, and Paul Kiparsky | George Starostin (Vajda's proposal) | - | [21] |
| Uralo-Siberian | Uralic, Yukaghir, and Eskimo–Aleut | Michael Fortescue (initiator), Frederik Kortlandt | ? | ? | [22] |
| Uralic, Yukaghir, Eskimo–Aleut, and Nivkh | Frederik Kortlandt (initiator) | ? | ? | [23] |
Below are language families that are already rejected by most linguists. Since it's widely rejected, only linguists who agreed will be shown.
| Proposed name | Description | Status | Agree | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almosan | Algic, Kutenai and Mosan | Widely rejected | ||
| Amerind | All languages in the Americas which do not belong to the Eskimo–Aleut or Na–Dene families | Widely rejected | ||
| Altaic | Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic and Japonic (and possibly Ainu) | Widely rejected; generally considered a Sprachbund | ||
| Austronesian–Ongan | Ongan and Austronesian | Widely rejected | Juliette Blevins (initiator) | [24] |
| Borean | All families except in sub-Saharan Africa, New Guinea, Australia, and the Andaman Islands | Widely rejected | ||
| Coahuiltecan | Native languages of modern Texas | Sprachbund | ||
| Dene–Caucasian | Na-Dené, North Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, Yeniseian, and others. | Widely rejected | ||
| Dravido-Korean | Dravidian and Koreanic | Obsolete | ||
| Elamo-Dravidian | Elamite and Dravidian | Widely rejected | ||
| Eurasiatic | Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic | Widely rejected | ||
| Indo-Pacific | Several Pacific families. | Widely rejected | ||
| Indo-Semitic | Indo-European languages and Semitic languages or Afroasiatic languages | Widely rejected | ||
| Khoisan | African click-consonant languages that do not belong to any other macrophyla | Widely rejected | ||
| Macro-Mayan | Mayan with Totonacan, Mixe–Zoque, and Huave | Widely rejected | ||
| Mosan | Salishan, Wakashan, and Chimakuan languages of Pacific Northwest North America | Sprachbund | ||
| Nostratic | Afroasiatic, Kartvelian, Dravidian and Eurasiatic | Widely rejected | ||
| Proto-World | Reconstructed common ancestor of all living languages | Widely rejected | Alfredo Trombetti (initiator) | |
| Ural–Altaic | Uralic and Altaic | Obsolete; considered a linguistic convergence zone |
I would no longer wish to relate CK directly to [Uralo-Siberian], although I believe that some of the lexical evidence [...] will hold up in terms of borrowing/diffusion.
Categories: [Language families]