Urheimat

In ancient homeland is the process by linguistic or archaeological methods undeveloped, probable area in which a specific, usually well -developed proto- language, the common archetype of a family of languages ​​spoken. The term is meant by the original home area of ​​origin historically occupied or still existing peoples or ethnic groups.

Origin and use of the concept of homeland

The term homeland is today used as a German foreign word in English. The term has come up in the discussion about the origin of the Indo-European proto-language speakers of the reconstructed that they sought to narrow with linguistic and archaeological arguments, in the 19th century. The issue at hand on the ancient and medieval idea of ​​Origo gentis. Since you can develop linguistic preforms at various levels, there are also chronologically successive " Urheimaten ". On the part of linguistics is today, however, are of the opinion that linguistic communities are rarely homogeneous and often had no common ethnic or national identity.

While in the German-speaking countries, the term " homeland " in a scientific context is rarely used, the term in the English scientific literature is now applied to the question of the origin areas nichtindogermanischer peoples and language groups.

Indo-European homeland

In this sense, scientists have been trying to locate the original homeland of the Indo-European language. The hypothesis has played a special role that the Indo-European proto-language terms for salmon and beech knew what seemed to narrow down the possible area of ​​origin. The also existing terms for snow, copper or bronze as well as the wheel and hub were looking at this because of the large spread (or transportability ) of these substances or objects as less meaningful.

In the discussion about the original homeland of the Indo-Europeans - or more precisely, the speaker of the Proto - Indo-European - Play the Book or the salmon argument is no longer relevant. The reconstructed Indo-European word * b ʰ Ag - ó -s probably originally referred not only the book. It is scientifically accepted that the name * lak -so- s originally was not the salmon, but living in the tributaries to the Black Sea trout.

A far less visible linguistic argument lead Gamqrelidse and Ivanov ( 1995), namely the unusually large and often significant differentiating number of roots ( and then words) for mountains, peaks, hills, etc., in the Indo-European proto-language, namely eg * b ʰ erg ʰ in German ' mountain ', ' castle ', etc., * men in Latin mons ' mountain ', ēminēre ' excellent ', etc., or * k̑ewk ' high' in German, ' hill ', etc. Such pronounced differences so close the writer, would be in a flat steppes north of the Black Sea not been proven to be necessary and therefore not developed. They therefore prefer an explicit original homeland of the speakers of the later Indo-European languages ​​in eastern Anatolia around Lake Van (now in eastern Turkey ), the Urmia Lake (now in western Iran ) and Lake Sevan ( Armenia today ) around ( see the map in the publication stated, pp. 850-851 ). The hypothesis has not only the advantage that it coincides precisely with the substantial research Colin Renfrews, but also that they are more likely to support the Kurgan hypothesis as disturbing. After Gamqrelidze and Ivanov, the carrier of the Anatolian language group have in fact moved only slightly to the west ( and they had already 2000 BC the closest relations to the cultures of southern Mesopotamia, therefore, the cuneiform used by them and the many linguistic Lehnbeziehungen the Sumerian and Akkadian ); has spread north to it early on a Greek- Armenian- Indo-Iranian dialect group ( characterized by an unusually large number of isoglosses ) is formed, which has spread from northeastern Asia Minor from far to the west and east; and a well initially isolated and possibly rather small group has made its way north across the Caucasus and apparently right there, maybe nomadic, settled. Gamqrelidse and Ivanov call this area secondary home country, and just the fact that they are there, north of the Black and Caspian Sea, seem to have become particularly important for the later spread their language ( it is the linguistic ancestors of the Balts, Slavs, Celts, Italians, Germans and others) could have led to the Ukraine or Kurgan hypothesis. In this sense, the steppe is there really also the original home of the Indo-Europeans, but - according to Gamqrelidse and Ivanov - without the Anatolians, Greeks, Armenians and Indoiraner (and perhaps even without the Tocharians, it is believed by those in the hypothesis that during the have moved away northwards as a single group to the east ). There is an Anatolian myth ( in a ritual of Hittite Muwatallis around 1300 BC; see this in the below reading CW Ceram, p 82), in which the sun rises in the east over a sea surface. Supporters of the immigration hypothesis capable of it actually conclude that the Anatolian peoples west of the Black Sea, so over the Bosphorus, have migrated to Asia Minor. But the size of the lake surface ago, the same conditions are also satisfied for example for the Lake Van.

If today is still predominantly the area north of the Black Sea is believed to be Indo-European homeland ( as " Kurgan hypothesis " ), then play in the establishment archaeological considerations a far greater role than in the 19th and in the first half of the 20th century. The adoption of a secondary homelands ( though not for all language groups ) changes but nothing objectively at the archaeological consistency of the Kurgan hypothesis. - Other alternative theories about the Indo-European homeland refer to the western Central Asia, the Baltic States, the Balkans, the Caucasus and India.

Indo-Iranian homeland

In the eastern Indo-European form the Iranian and Indo- Aryan languages ​​(Sanskrit ) a clearly distinguishable component. As spokesperson for the proto- Indo-Iranian language are generally the carriers of the culture of Andronovohorizonts the late third and early second millennium BC

Baltoslavische Urheimat

Among linguists has been controversial for decades, if there was a separate Balto -Slavic intermediate in the spin-off of the Indo-European (analogous for example to the Indo-Iranian stage) or whether these two neighboring language families that have influenced undeniable were separated since the beginning of its development. As far as today a Balto -Slavic intermediate is assumed whose original home is now mostly associated with the eastern regions of the Corded Ware culture in combination.

The localization of a Slavic homeland is now made ​​primarily on the basis of the findings of the hydronyms ( and waters), the oldest clearly identifiable Western and Slavic names in the ( south- ) Ukraine and southern Belarus are to be found.

Western Indo-European

The Western Indo-European is divided into three language families Italic, Celtic and Germanic.

Germanic homeland

The precursors of the Germanic tribes is controversial, how do these have in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia or something south of it, as in present-day Lower Saxony, Saxony -Anhalt and Thuringia, emerged. The latter was the majority view until about 1890, and is now again increasingly represented approximately by Jürgen Udolph, on the basis of the findings of the local waters and name. In contrast, since about 1890 are, according to a developed theory from 1885 Ludwig Wilsers, and through the advocacy Gustaf Kossinnas most prehistorians southern Scandinavia, Denmark and northern Germany as the original home of the " (proto - ) Germanic ". Kossinna, whose scientific influence in the earlier research was instrumental originally preferred the north-south propagation. Leibniz led his time and research far ahead, even the evidence of hydronyms, which proves Udolph as extremely durable and resistant to changeable acting foreign influences. However, archeology and linguistics related to the early home of the Teutons, however, are such as tungsten Euler emphasizes date, divided: North hypothesis is - represented by archeology - due to the material evidence of Jastorf Culture. Linguistics has shown in particular by the place names research and by the Lehnwortforschung ( Udolph, Hans Fromm, Hans Kuhn ) that the zones or regions of speakers of an idiom beyond the limits of individual cultures have certain material.

Celtic homeland

The Celtic homeland is usually accepted in the heartland of La Tène and her previous Hallstatt culture. Center of the Hallstatt culture (ca. 750-475 BC), the area of western Austria and Bavaria, the core territory of the La Tène culture was was the northwest adjacent area in parts of present-day Baden -Württemberg and Switzerland. Since the Celtic ethnicity and (proto - ) language but probably older and the Hallstatt culture is continuously emerged from the urn field culture, their starting area is considered as a possible Celtic homeland. However, this output area covers much of the southern Central Europe. Within this area, take the linguist Jürgen Udolph and, more recently, Peter Busse because names of water the Western Alps and the (upper) Rhone Valley Celtic as a starting field of (proto - ) language.

Italic homeland

The Italic output area must be due to linguistic findings contact with both the (proto - ) Celtic as well as the peen manic language area have had, it is a matter (before the immigration protoitalischer tribes to Italy probably in the early 2nd millennium BC), as in Bohemia localized.

Finno -Ugric peoples and language groups

The determination of the original home of the Proto - Uralic is a difficult task due to the high age of this proto-language. The different classification theories correspond closely with hypotheses about the spread of the respective linguistic subgroup of a supposed original homeland in their current geographic area. It is generally assumed that the output field of Finno- Ugric languages ​​is to locate in the central or southern Urals with a center -west of the mountain range. The first apparently separated the ancestors of today's Samoyeds and moved eastward. This separation took place before at least 6000, if not 7000 years, which is from the relatively small number (about 150 ) to include total - Uralic word equations. The splitting of Samoyedic in today's languages ​​probably began only about 2000 years ago.

The Finno-Ugric group was the larger of the beginning by far. First splits this group go back to at least the 3rd millennium BC. As mentioned, the order of the spin-offs and thus the course of the expansion of the Finno -Ugric languages ​​since about 1970 ( back ) is debatable. Since thunder 1879 it was generally believed that the Ugrian separated as the first group of Finno - Ugric and left behind as the rest of the Finno- Permian unit. The more recent results ( Sammallahti 1984 and 1998, Viitso 1996), however, see the Sami - Finnish group as a peripheral unit that BC moved away from the Finno-Ugric core first time already in the 3rd millennium. This was followed by the Mordvinian and Mari (around 2000 BC), and finally the Permian in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. BC as the core remained the languages ​​from which developed the Ugrian. Probably around 1000 BC you can start at the separation of the Hungarian by the Ob-Ugric languages. The Hungarians ( Magyars self-designation ) taken place since 500 AD together with Turkish tribes moved west and reached and captured the lightly populated Carpathian Basin 895 AD (The name comes from the Hungarian Chuvash - Turkic or Bolgar of on- Ogur = ten Ogur strains ).