Origin & Diffusion of Indo-European

The Romance language branch and the Indo-European language family are examples of what is known and unknown about the origin and diffusion of language branches and families.

Origin & Diffusion of Romance Languages

The Romance languages belong to a single branch because they originated from Latin, the “Romans’ language.” The rise in the importance of the city of Rome 2,000 years ago brought a diffusion of its Latin language. At its height in the second century C.E., the Roman Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean on the west to the Black Sea on the east and encompassed all lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The empire’s boundary is shown in Figure 8-10. As the conquering Roman armies occupied the provinces of this vast empire, they brought the Latin language with them. In the process, the languages spoken by the natives of the provinces were either extinguished or suppressed in favor of the language of the conquerors.

Even during the period of the Roman Empire, Latin varied to some extent from one province to another. The empire grew over a period of several hundred years, so the Latin used in each province was based on that spoken by the Roman army at the time of occupation. The Latin spoken in each province also integrated words from the language formerly spoken in the area. The Latin that people in the provinces learned was not the standard literary form but a spoken form, known as Vulgar Latin, from the Latin word referring to “the masses” of the populace.

The evolution of Romance languages began with the migration of Latin speakers throughout western and southern Europe that accompanied the rise of the Roman Empire more than 2,000 years ago. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century C.E., communication among the former provinces declined, creating still greater regional variation in spoken Latin. By the eighth century, regions of the former empire had been isolated from each other long enough for distinct languages to evolve.

Romance branch languages have achieved worldwide importance because of the colonial activities of their European speakers. French is an official language in 29 countries, including 21 in Africa. Spanish is the official language of 18 Latin American states, and less than 10 percent of the speakers of Spanish live in Spain. Portuguese is used in Brazil, which has a population of 200 million compared to only 10 million in Portugal. The division of Central and South America into Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking regions resulted from a 1493 decision by Pope Alexander VI to give the western portion of the region to Spain and the eastern part to Portugal. The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed a year later, carried out the papal decision.

Common Ancestry of Indo-Europan Languages

If Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian languages are all part of the same Indo-European language family, then it is reasonable to assume they are descended from a single common ancestral language. The existence of a single ancestor—which can be called Proto-Indo-European—cannot be proved with certainty because it would have existed thousands of years before the invention of writing or recorded history (see Sustainability & Our Environment feature).

Since the origin of language families predates recorded history, the evidence that Indo-European originated with a single Proto-Indo-European language comes primarily from words related to the physical environment. For example:

• Individual Indo-European languages share common words for winter and snow but not for ocean. Therefore, linguists conclude that original Proto-Indo-European speakers probably lived in a cold climate or one that had a winter season but did not come in contact with oceans.

• Individual Indo-European languages share words for some animals and trees (such as beech, oak, bear, deer, pheasant, and bee), but other words are unshared (such as elephant, camel, rice, and bamboo).

Therefore, linguists conclude that original Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in a place where the shared animals and trees are found, whereas the unshared words were added later, after the original language split into branches.

Pause & Reflect 5.2.1

Pick an English word for an animal or plant. Use a translation app to see the word in French or Spanish. Does the word look similar or very different? Why?

Linguists and anthropologists disagree on when and where Proto-Indo-European originated and the process and routes by which it diffused. Two theories are “nomadic warrior” and “sedentary farmer.”

Nomadic Warrior Theory

The first Proto-Indo-European speakers were the Kurgan people, according to archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. The earliest archaeological evidence of the Kurgans dates to around 4300 B.C.E., near the border between present-day Russia and Kazakhstan.

Among the first people to domesticate horses and use chariots, the Kurgans migrated in search of grasslands for their animals. This took them westward through Europe, eastward to Siberia, and southeastward to Iran and South Asia. Between 3500 and 2500 B.C.E., Kurgan warriors, having established military superiority with their horse-drawn chariots, conquered much of Europe and South Asia.

Origin and Diffusion Of Indo-European: Nomadic Warrior Theory

The Kurgan homeland was north of the Caspian Sea, near the present-day border between Russia and Kazakhstan. According to this theory, the Kurgans may have infiltrated into Eastern Europe beginning around 3500 B.C.E. and into central Europe and Southwest Asia beginning around 2500 B.C.E.

Sedentary Farmer Theory

Archaeologist Colin Renfrew argues that the first speakers of Proto- Indo-European lived 2,000 years before the Kurgans, in the eastern part of present-day Turkey (Figure 5-17). Supporting Renfrew, biologist Russell D. Gray dates the first speakers even earlier, at around 6700 B.C.E. This hypothesis argues that Indo-European diffused into Europe and South Asia along with agricultural practices rather than by military conquest. The language triumphed because its speakers became more numerous and prosperous by growing their own food instead of relying on hunting.

Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European: Sedentary Farmer Theory

Indo-European may have originated in present-day Turkey 2,000 years before the Kurgans. According to this theory, the language diffused along with agricultural innovations west into Europe and east into Asia.

Thus, the diffusion of Indo-European speaks to a fundamental question for humanity: Do cultural elements such as language diffuse primarily through warfare and conquest or primarily through peaceful sharing of resources? Regardless of how Indo-European diffused, communication was poor among different peoples, whether warriors or farmers. After many generations of complete isolation, individual groups evolved increasingly distinct languages.