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Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan

Sagart, Laurent; Jacques, Guillaume; Lai, Yunfan; Ryder, Robin J.; Thouzeau, Valentin; Greenhill, Simon J.; List, Johann-Mattis (2019), Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116, 21. 10.1073/pnas.1817972116

Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Date
2019-05
Journal name
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume
116
Number
21
Publisher
National Academy of sciences
Publication identifier
Metadata
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Author(s)
Sagart, Laurent cc
Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale [CRLAO]
Jacques, Guillaume cc
Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale [CRLAO]
Lai, Yunfan
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History [MPI-SHH]
Ryder, Robin J.
CEntre de REcherches en MAthématiques de la DEcision [CEREMADE]
Thouzeau, Valentin
CEntre de REcherches en MAthématiques de la DEcision [CEREMADE]
Greenhill, Simon J.
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History [MPI-SHH]
List, Johann-Mattis cc
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History [MPI-SHH]
Abstract (EN)
The Sino-Tibetan language family is one of the world’s largest and most prominent families, spoken by nearly 1.4 billion people. Despite the importance of the Sino-Tibetan languages, their prehistory remains controversial, with ongoing debate about when and where they originated. To shed light on this debate we develop a database of comparative linguistic data, and apply the linguistic comparative method to identify sound correspondences and establish cognates. We then use phylogenetic methods to infer the relationships among these languages and estimate the age of their origin and homeland. Our findings point to Sino-Tibetan originating with north Chinese millet farmers around 7200 B.P. and suggest a link to the late Cishan and the early Yangshao cultures.
Subjects / Keywords
Sino-Tibetan languages; human prehistory; East Asia; peopling; computer-assisted language comparison