Na-Dene languages

Na - Dene is a 1915 introduced by Edward Sapir name for a group of North American languages, namely Haida, Tlingit and the Athabaskan about forty languages ​​, which also include the Apache languages. 1930 added to this group yet the closely related to the Athabaskan Eyak added. Since 1980, the genetic relationship of the Haida is negated with the other languages ​​of this group by the majority of researchers, so that Na - Dene in the strict sense includes only Tlingit, Eyak and Athapaskisch and is often referred to as Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch. There are several approaches to bring Na - Dene languages ​​in connection with Eurasian, for Sino Tibetan and Jenisseischen. It is also a component of the hypothetical macro family Dene - Caucasian.

This article discusses the importance and development of the concept of Na - Dene, the internal structure of the Na - Dene group in historical change and potential genetic relationships with Eurasian languages. Information about the Athabaskan language family, their individual languages ​​and their internal classification as well as to the individual languages ​​Eyak, Tlingit and Haida be found in the special articles.

• 3.1 Na - Dene and Sino-Tibetan
• 3.2 The ent - Caucasian hypothesis
• 3.3 Na - Dene and Jenisseisch

• 5.1 American Languages
• 5.2 Na - Dene
• 5.3 Dene - Caucasian
• 5.4 Na - Dene and Jenisseisch

Development of the concept of Na - Dene

Adelung and father already noted similarities of 1816 Tlingit, Eyak and the Athabaskan Tanaina, but attributed this to areal contact. Radloff ( 1857), Krause ( 1885) and Boas (1894 ) confirmed these similarities and suspected a genetic relationship of these languages ​​, to which they had also incorporating the Haida. In contrast, Hale warned in a letter (1888 ) to Boas of caution:

" You say - 'It is likely did the Haida are allied to the Tlinget. ' I can find no resemblance in the vocabularies, except in the word for ' elk ', Which is evidently borrowed. It will be well to be cautious in seeking Suggesting relationships ... "

" They say, ' It is likely that Haida is associated with Tlingit '. I can not find any similarities in the vocabulary, with the exception of the word, elk ', which is borrowed from proven. It is advisable to be cautious in proposing such relationships. "

In several works (1904-1911) Swanton strengthened the position of genetic relatedness. The term Na - Dene as a collective term for Haida, Tlingit and the Athabaskan languages ​​coined Edward Sapir 1915 He followed the positions of Boas and Swanton and looked at Na - Dene according to their own extensive research as a genetic unit that he -. According to the rediscovery of the Eyak 1930 - divided as follows:

Na - Dene in the sense of Sapir's

• Na - Dene Haida
• Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch Tlingit
• Eyak Athapaskisch Eyak
• Athabaskan languages

Sapir joined in the result, many Americanists, so also Joseph Greenberg in his controversial work Language in the Americas by 1987, but immediately after Sapir's work, it was among the experts doubt on the genetic relationship of this group Pinnow -. One of the best authorities of these languages ​​- 1964 as follows summarized:

"The chief arguments of the advocates of the Na - Dene theory is did the morphological system of Tlingit, Eyak, Athapaskan and the languages ​​, and to a lesser extent so of Haida, show conspicuous morphological similarities and common features Which justify the assumption thatthey belong to a larger unit. There is a powerful argument against the HOWEVER genetic relationship. These four groups have very few words in common. A glance at Their so - called basic vocabularies and the morphemes in Their grammatical system shows enormous differences Which SEEM to preclude any Possibility of genetic relationship. On the otherhand Their morphological systems reveal close similarities Which can not Possibly be the work of chance. The only way out of this dilemma Has been to suppose did borrowing from one language to another Took place. "

"The main argument of the representatives of the Na - Dene - theory is that the morphological systems of Tlingit, Eyak and Athabaskan languages ​​, and to a lesser extent, that of the Haida, suspicious morphological similarities and common features aufzeigten which the assumption that they belong to a larger unit, assisted. There is nonetheless a strong argument against the genetic relationship. These four groups have very few common words. A quick look at their so-called Basiskvokabular and morphemes in their grammatical systems shows enormous differences, which seem to exclude in any way the genetic relationship from the beginning. On the other hand their morphological systems reveal close similarities which may have arisen by chance impossible. The only way out of this dilemma was to accept borrowing from one language into another. "

Scope and structure of the Na - Dene group

Haida and Na - Dene

These doubts Pinnows and other concerned increasingly in particular the membership of the Haida Na - Dene for. The similarities of the Haida Tlingit and the Athabaskan languages ​​with this according to researchers based more on areal language contacts ( Tlingit is spoken directly north of Haida ) and on false linguistic analysis of the early comparative research. 1991 Campbell Mithun in 1997 and 1999 argue against a relationship of the Haida Na - Dene with the other languages ​​among others Levine 1979 Blank 1990, from.

However, there were still representative of the position that was with Haida Tlingit and Eyak Athapaskisch genetically related, in particular, Joseph Greenberg and Merritt Ruhlen 1987 in 1994, but also the original so skeptical Pinnow represented now (1985 ) a different opinion. The work of Ruhlen 1994 is examined in detail in Campbell in 1997. Ruhlen offers 324 word equations, however, 119 of which contain no Haida forms. The remaining etymologies can to Campbell not prove a genetic relationship of the Haida Na - Dene for. ( He criticizes the importance width of the word equations, poor linguistic analysis of the word forms, usually only short roots are compared, the phonetic similarities are very broad, not excluded loanwords and onomatopoetic expressions, etc.)

Today, the majority of experts believes that Haida should be considered as an isolated language rather than Na - Dene language. Therefore, the name Na - Dene has recently been most often understood in a narrower sense (excluding Haida ), comprising only Tlingit, Eyak and Athabaskan languages ​​the.

Reduction in Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch

In the current overall representations of indigenous ( North ) American languages ​​by Mithun (1999) and Campbell ( 1997) - in order to avoid misunderstandings - completely dispensed with the notion Na - Dene and instead the name of Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch used. The genetic unit of Tlingit and Eyak Athapaskisch is recognized by the majority of researchers. But even here there are skeptics. Krauss and Golla (1981 ) noted:

" Tlingit bears a close resemblance to Athapaskan - Eyak in phonolgy and grammatical structure, but shows little regular correspondence in vocabulary. THEREFORE the nature of the relationship in between Athapascan - Eyak and Tlingit remains an open question. "

" Tlingit shows great similarities to Athapaskisch - Eyak in phonology and in the grammatical structure, but little agreement in the vocabulary. Therefore, the relationship between Athapaskisch - Eyak and Tlingit remains an open question. "

The otherwise very cautious in their classifications Marianne Mithun (1999) is in any case based on the language family Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch while Campbell 1997 treats the Tlingit separately.

Eurasian Related

Na - Dene and Sino-Tibetan

The Na - Dene group was compared with several Eurasian languages ​​and language families. So was convinced with the Sino Tibetan Edward Sapir of a relationship of the Na - Dene. He writes in 1921 in a now become known letter to the Americanists Alfred Kroeber:

"If the morphological and lexical accord Which I find on every hand in between Nadene and Indo- Chinese is accidential, then every analogy on God's earth is an accident. "

"If the morphological and lexical matches, which I (meaning Sino-Tibetan ) anywhere between Na - Dene and the Indo - Chinese languages ​​may find to be a coincidence, then each match on God's earth is a coincidence. "

Sapir published his opinion on this issue not because he foresaw the part of conservative Americanists by zukämen which hostility towards him. Campbell 1999 rated the analogies Sapir as not very extraordinary and says that they all have non-genetic, typological explanations. Sapir's thesis was also based on the fact that many sino Tibetan and Na - Dene languages ​​are tonal languages ​​. It has now been demonstrated that the tone development in both the Sino Tibetan as well as in Na - Dene was a secondary process that is not attributable to each one of the proto languages. For this anyway rather typological argument is omitted completely. Sapir's thesis was pursued by Shafer (1952, 1969) and supported by Swadesh in some work. However, Campbell 1999 evaluates the entire etymological material as unconvincing and the statements on morphology rather than typological.

The ent - Caucasian hypothesis

The ent - Caucasian macro family is based on a Sino -Caucasian macro family, Sergei Starostin founded in 1984. He came from a genetic relationship of the North Caucasus with the Siberian Jenisseischen and the Sino Tibetan, based on his reconstructions of the respective proto- languages. Later this macro family was to some ancient oriental components ( Hurrian - Urartian, Hattish, Sumerian, etc.), Burushaski and Basque ( 1985) expanded. Finally Nikolajev struck in 1988, the Na - Dene as another member of the Sino - Caucasian before, so this was extended to the Dene - Caucasian.

As already probably has the Sino Tibetan protolanguage an age of more than 10,000 years ago, would have an ent - Caucasian proto-language at least 20,000 years of age, with their ultra-wide geographical distribution probably even older. By the majority of historical-comparative linguistics is doubtful that can be detected substantial similarities between the phonology, grammar and vocabulary after such a long time yet. The theses of the Dene - Kaukasisten are therefore not accepted by the majority of historical linguistics, particularly the membership of the Na - Dene by the Americanists. Particularly negative turn judges Campbell 1999 ( page 288 ).

Na - Dene and Jenisseisch

Since a few years, another suggestion of some attention pleased. Edward Vajda postulated in several articles and lectures (2000-2004) that the Na - Dene languages ​​with the Siberian Jenisseischen language family - one of the members of the hypothetical Dene - Caucasian - be genetically related. He found in it support by Werner ( 2004). In Vajda's proposal, the Haida is now re-introduced [ source ?] (Which is also integrated in the ent -Caucasian proposal ), but as a distant relative, since the Jenisseische is positioned closer to the Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch as the Haida ( a relatively improbable hypothesis that Haida is now removed the immediate geographical neighbor of the Tlingit, but thousands of kilometers from jenisseischen Ket and the implications for possible migration scenarios are at least problematic ). This Vajda (2002) comes to the following classification:

• Na - Dene (in the sense Vajda ) Haida
• Dene - Jenisseisch Jenisseisch
• Tlingit - Eyak - Athapaskisch Tlingit
• Eyak Athapaskisch Eyak
• Athapaskisch

It is too early to assess the viability of Vajda's thesis. According to previous experiences they will find little support among Americanists. A competing theory brings the Jenisseische in particular proximity to Burushaski, which is also expected to Dene - Caucasian. The talks well - together with the results Vajda - again more for the wider ent -Caucasian approach. The Greenberg's caution against binary comparisons also seems appropriate here (see the article Joseph Greenberg and Lexical mass comparison).

For a closer relationship [ so what? ] At least the speaker of the jenisseischen and Na - Dene languages ​​, however, speak a work of Rubisz et al. (2002), in which a more biological- genetic relationship of Ket Speaker ( Ket is the only surviving language of jenisseischen group) is stated to the Na - Dene speakers, as they have to the other groups of Indians or Eskimos.