The following is a list of proposed language families, which connect established families into larger genetic groups (macro-families). Support for these proposals vary from case to case. For example, the Dené–Yeniseian languages 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.
More information Proposed name, Proposal ...
Proposed name |
Proposal |
Agree |
Disagree |
Doubt |
Ref. |
Alarodian |
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Austric |
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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 |
[1][2][3] |
|
Wilhelm Schmidt (initiator) |
|
|
Paul K. Benedict (initiator, later rejected), Sergei Starostin, John Bengtson |
|
|
John Bengtson (initiator) |
|
Austro-Tai |
|
Paul Benedict (initiator, also including Japanese), Ostapirat, Smith |
Thurgood |
Sagart |
[4] |
Aztec–Tanoan |
|
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Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric |
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Dené–Yeniseian |
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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) |
|
[5] |
Gulf |
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Hokan |
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Ibero-Caucasian |
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Indo-Uralic |
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Holger Pedersen (initiator), Kortlandt, Hannes Sköld, Alwin Kloekhorst, and Nikolai Dmitrievich Andreev |
Christian Carpelan, Asko Parpola, Petteri Koskikallio, Angela Marcantonio, and Johan Schalin |
|
[6] |
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Kortlandt (initiator) |
|
[7] |
Je–Tupi–Carib |
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Karasuk |
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Macro-Chibchan |
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Macro-Jê |
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Macro-Pama–Nyungan |
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Macro-Panoan |
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Macro-Siouan |
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Mataco–Guaicuru |
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Miao–Dai |
|
Ryuichi Kosaka (initiator) |
|
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[8] |
Niger–Congo |
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Nilo-Saharan |
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North Caucasian |
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Pontic |
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Émile Benveniste, Winfred P. Lehmann, Aert Kuipers, and John Colarusso |
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[9] |
Quechumaran |
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Serbi–Mongolic |
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Sino-Austronesian |
|
Laurent Sagart (initiator), Stanley Starosta |
Weera Ostapirat, Alexander Vovin, George van Driem |
Paul Jen-kuei Li and Robert Blust |
[10][11] |
Totozoquean |
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Uralic–Yukaghir |
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Uralo-Siberian |
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Michael Fortescue (initiator), Frederik Kortlandt |
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[12] |
|
Frederik Kortlandt (initiator) |
|
|
[13] |
Yok-Utian |
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Geoffrey Gamble(initiator), Catherine Callaghan |
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Yuki–Wappo |
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Below are language families that are already rejected by most linguists. As they are widely rejected, only linguists who agree are shown.
More information Proposed name, Description ...
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 |
|
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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) |
[14] |
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 |
|
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Dravido-Korean |
Dravidian and Koreanic |
Obsolete |
|
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Elamo-Dravidian |
Elamite and Dravidian |
Widely rejected |
|
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Eurasiatic |
Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic |
Widely rejected |
|
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Indo-Pacific |
Several Pacific families. |
Widely rejected |
|
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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 |
|
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Macro-Mayan |
Mayan with Totonacan, Mixe–Zoque, and Huave |
Widely rejected |
|
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Mosan |
Salishan, Wakashan, and Chimakuan languages of Pacific Northwest North America |
Sprachbund |
|
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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 |
|
|
Sino-Uralic |
Uralic, Sinitic |
? |
Jingyi Gao (initiator) |
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Smith, Alexander (2022-01-28). Alves, Mark; Sidwell, Paul (eds.). "More Austro-Tai Comparisons and Observations on Vowel Correspondences". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society: Papers from the 30th Conference of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (2021). 15 (3): 112–134. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5781307. ISSN 1836-6821. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
Starostin, George (2012). "Dene-Yeniseian: a critical assessment". p. 137
Aikio, Ante (January 2022). "Proto-Uralic". In Bakró-Nagy, Marianne; Laakso, Johanna; Skribnik, Elena (eds.). Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Kortlandt, Frederik (2004). "NIVKH AS A URALO-SIBERIAN LANGUAGE". researchgate.net.
Kosaka, Ryuichi (2002). "On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao-Dai family?" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 32: 71–100.
Colarusso, John (1997). "Proto-Pontic: Phyletic links between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Northwest Caucasian". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 25: 119–51.
Sagart, L. (1990) "Chinese and Austronesian are genetically related". Paper presented at the 23rd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, October 1990, Arlington, Texas.
Sagart, Laurent (2016). "The wider connections of Austronesian: A response to Blust (2009)". Diachronica. 33 (2): 255–281. doi:10.1075/dia.33.2.04sag.
Fortescue, Michael (2011). "The relationship of Nivkh to Chukotko-Kamchatkan revisited". Lingua. 121 (8): 1359–1376. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2011.03.001.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.
Kortlandt, Frederik (2004). "NIVKH AS A URALO-SIBERIAN LANGUAGE". researchgate.net.
van Driem, George (2011). "Rice and the Austroasiatic and Hmong-Mien homelands". In N.J Enfield (ed.). Dynamics of human diversity: the case of mainland Southeast Asia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Retrieved 13 November 2021.