Salmon problem

Argument about the location of Proto-Indo-European urheimat

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Part of a series on

Indo-European topics

Languages

* * *

* List of Indo-European languages

* * *

Extant

* Albanoid
* Albanian
* Armenian
* Balto-Slavic
* Baltic
* Slavic
* Celtic
* Germanic
* Hellenic
* Greek
* Indo-Iranian
* Indo-Aryan
* Iranian
* Nuristani
* Italic
* Romance

Extinct

* Anatolian
* Tocharian
* Paleo-Balkan
* Dacian
* Illyrian
* Liburnian
* Messapic
* Mysian
* Paeonian
* Phrygian
* Thracian

* * *

Reconstructed

* Proto-Indo-European language

* Phonology: Sound laws, Accent, Ablaut

* * *

Hypothetical

* Balkanic
* Daco-Thracian
* Graeco-Albanian
* Graeco-Armenian
* Graeco-Aryan
* Graeco-Phrygian
* Indo-Hittite
* Italo-Celtic
* Thraco-Illyrian

* * *

Grammar

* Vocabulary
* Root
* Verbs
* Nouns
* Pronouns
* Numerals
* Particles

* * *

Other

* Proto-Albanian
* Proto-Anatolian
* Proto-Armenian
* Proto-Germanic (Proto-Norse)
* Proto-Italo-Celtic (Proto-Celtic · Proto-Italic)
* Proto-Greek
* Proto-Balto-Slavic (Proto-Slavic · Proto-Baltic)
* Proto-Indo-Iranian (Proto-Iranian)

Philology

* Hittite inscriptions
* Hieroglyphic Luwian
* Linear B
* Rigveda
* Avesta
* Homer
* Behistun
* Gaulish epigraphy
* Latin epigraphy
* Runic epigraphy
* Ogham
* Gothic Bible
* Bible translations into Armenian
* Tocharian script
* Old Irish glosses

Origins

* Homeland
* Proto-Indo-Europeans
* Society
* Religion

* * *

Mainstream

* Kurgan hypothesis
* Indo-European migrations
* Eurasian nomads

* * *

Alternative and fringe

* Anatolian hypothesis
* Armenian hypothesis
* Beech argument
* Indigenous Aryanism
* Baltic homeland
* Paleolithic continuity theory

Archaeology

Chalcolithic (Copper Age)

Pontic Steppe

* Domestication of the horse
* Kurgan
* Kurgan stelae
* Kurgan culture
* Steppe cultures
* Bug–Dniester
* Sredny Stog
* Dnieper–Donets
* Samara
* Khvalynsk
* Yamnaya
* Mikhaylovka culture
* Novotitarovskaya culture

Caucasus

* Maykop

East Asia

* Afanasievo

Eastern Europe

* Usatovo
* Cernavodă
* Cucuteni

Northern Europe

* Corded ware
* Baden
* Middle Dnieper

* * *

Bronze Age

Pontic Steppe

* Chariot
* Yamnaya
* Catacomb
* Multi-cordoned ware
* Poltavka
* Srubnaya

Northern/Eastern Steppe

* Abashevo culture
* Andronovo
* Sintashta

Europe

* Globular Amphora
* Corded ware
* Bell Beaker
* Únětice
* Trzciniec
* Nordic Bronze Age
* Terramare
* Tumulus
* Urnfield
* Lusatian

South Asia

* BMAC
* Yaz
* Gandhara grave

* * *

Iron Age

Steppe

* Chernoles

Europe

* Thraco-Cimmerian
* Hallstatt
* Jastorf

Caucasus

* Colchian

India

* Painted Grey Ware
* Northern Black Polished Ware

Peoples and societies

Bronze Age

* Anatolian peoples (Hittites)

* Armenians
* Mycenaean Greeks
* Indo-Iranians

Iron Age

Indo-Aryans

* Indo-Aryans

Iranians

* Iranians

East Asia

* Wusun
* Yuezhi

Europe

* Celts
* Gauls
* Celtiberians
* Insular Celts
* Cimmerians
* Hellenic peoples
* Italic peoples
* Germanic peoples
* Paleo-Balkan/Anatolia
* Thracians
* Dacians
* Illyrians
* Paeonians
* Phrygians
* Scythians

Middle Ages

East Asia

* Tocharians

Europe

* Albanians
* Balts
* Slavs
* Norsemen/Medieval Scandinavians
* Middle Ages

Indo-Aryan

* Medieval India

Iranian

* Greater Iran

Religion and mythology

Reconstructed

* Proto-Indo-European mythology
* Proto-Indo-Iranian paganism
* Historical Vedic religion
* Ancient Iranian religion

* * *

Historical

* Hittite

Indo-Aryan

* Vedic
* Hinduism
* Buddhism
* Jainism
* Sikhism

Iranian

* Persian
* Zoroastrianism
* Kurdish
* Yazidism
* Yarsanism
* Scythian
* Ossetian

Others

* Armenian

European

* Paleo-Balkan (Albanian · Illyrian · Thracian · Dacian)
* Greek
* Roman
* Celtic
* Irish
* Scottish
* Breton
* Welsh
* Cornish
* Germanic
* Anglo-Saxon
* Continental
* Norse
* Baltic
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Slavic

Practices

* Fire sacrifice
* Horse sacrifice
* Sati
* Winter solstice/Yule

Indo-European studies

Scholars

* Marija Gimbutas
* J. P. Mallory

Institutes

* Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European

Publications

* Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture
* The Horse, the Wheel, and Language
* Journal of Indo-European Studies
* Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
* Indo-European Etymological Dictionary

* v
* t
* e

In Indo-European studies, the salmon problem or salmon argument[1] (also known by the German term Lachsargument[2]) is an outdated argument in favour of placing the Indo-European urheimat in the Baltic region, as opposed to the Eurasian Steppe, based on the cognate etymology of the respective words for salmon in Germanic and Balto-Slavic languages.[3] The word's wide distribution likely means it existed in its current form in a Proto-Indo-European language.[4]

The reasoning went as follows: Since the term for Atlantic salmon in the Germanic, Baltic and Slavic languages could be derived from a common Proto-Indo-European root *laḱs-,[5] the urheimat of the Indo-Europeans must be where both the languages and the object it describes can be found: Northern-Central Europe. The argument was first put forward by German philologist Otto Schrader in 1883.[6] The argument was subject to continued scholarly debate throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in German academia.

In 1953, German indologist Paul Thieme submitted that the descendants of *laḱs- found in the Caucasus described the brown trout (Salmo trutta) rather than the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).[7] American philologist George Sherman Lane concurred in a 1970 conference paper: "In my opinion, the name in question probably did refer originally not to the Salmo salar at all, but rather to the Salmo trutta caspius of the northwest Caucasus region."[8] That lent support to the Kurgan hypothesis.

## See also

[edit]

* Historical linguistics
* Comparative method (linguistics)
* Proto-Indo-European homeland
* North European hypothesis
* Beech argument

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Adams, Douglas Q. (1985). "PIE *lokso-, (anadromous) brown trout' and *kokso- 'groin' and their descendants in Tocharian: A coda to the Lachsargument". Indogermanische Forschungen (90). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter: 72–78.
2. ^ Schrader, Otto (1883). Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte. Linguistisch-historische Beiträge zur Erforschung des indogermanischen Altertums [Language comparison and ancient history. Linguistic-historical contributions to the investigation of Indo-European antiquity.] (1st ed.). Jena: Costenoble.
3. ^ Diebold, A. Richard (1976). "Contributions to the Indo-European salmon problem". In Christie, William M (ed.). Current proceedings in historical linguistics. 2nd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Tucson, 12–16 January 1976. Amsterdam: North-Holland. pp. 341–387.
4. ^ Nurkiyazova, Sevind J (13 May 2019). "The English Word That Hasn't Changed in Sound or Meaning in 8,000 Years". Nautilus (science magazine). Retrieved 13 May 2019.
5. ^ Miller, Gary D. (2007). "Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans" (PDF). University of Florida. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2016. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
6. ^ Giacalone Ramat, Anna; Ramat, Paolo (1998). The Indo-European Languages. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-06449-1.
7. ^ Thieme, Paul (1953). "Die Heimat der indogermanischen Gemeinsprache" [The homeland of the common Indo-European language]. Abhandlungen der geistes- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse (11). Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Wiesbaden.
8. ^ Lane, George Sherman (1970). "Tocharian. Indo-European and Non-Indo-European Relationships.". In Cardona, George; Hoenigswald, Henry M.; Senn, Alfred (eds.). Indo-European and Indo-Europeans. Third Indo-European Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia. p. 83.

* v
* t
* e

Proto-Indo-European language

Phonology|

* Accent
* Centum and satem
* Glottalic theory
* Laryngeal theory
* s-mobile
* Sound laws
* boukólos rule
* *kʷetwóres rule
* Glossary of sound laws
* Brugmann's
* Bartholomae's
* Fortunatov's
* Grassmann's
* Osthoff's
* Pinault's
* Siebs's
* Sievers's (Edgerton's converse)
* Stang's
* Szemerényi's
* Weise's

Morphology|

* Ablaut
* Caland system
* h₂e-conjugation
* Narten present
* Nasal infix
* Root
* Thematic vowel
* Vṛddhi

Parts of speech|

* Nominals (nouns and adjectives)
* Numerals
* Particles
* Pronouns
* Verbs
* copula
* Vocabulary

Main sources|

* Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (IEW)
* Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (LIV)
* Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme (LIPP)
* Nomina im Indogermanischen Lexikon (NIL)
* Indo-European Etymological Dictionary (IEED)

Origins|

* Indo-European migrations
* Proto-Indo-European homeland
* Salmon problem

Artificial compositions|

* Schleicher's fable
* The king and the god

Theories|

* Kurgan hypothesis
* Schleicher theories
* Anatolian hypothesis
* Armenian hypothesis
* Outdated theories:
* Beech argument
* North European hypothesis

See also|

* Proto-Indo-European mythology
* Proto-Indo-European society
* Indo-European studies
* Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (EIE)

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