Var mı, yok mu? ("Does it or doesn't it exist?"): the Altaic dilemma (or: Aru, nai?)
Date
1998-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Calgary
Abstract
This paper is an overview of arguments for the relatedness of the two languages
demonstrated in the title - Turkish and Japanese - and the series of language groups
between the two, including the rest of the Turkic languages, the Mongolian and Manchu-Tungus families, and Korean, the close sister of Japanese. The Altaic family is a hypothesized genetic unity including the subfamilies of Turkic, Mongolian, and Manchu-Tungus, as well as the fringe languages of Japanese and Korean. The great geographical expanse of these languages encourages scepticism until one considers that Indo-European is said to reach from Icelandic to Hindi. Having had less attention in studies of historical linguistics than lndo-European, the existence of the Altaic family is still hotly debated among scholars.
Description
Keywords
Linguistics, Turkish language, Japanese language, Comparative linguistics, Typology (Linguistics), Altaic languages, Proto-Altaic language, Historical linguistics
Citation
Mills, T. I. (1998). Var mı, yok mu? ("Does it or doesn't it exist?"): the Altaic dilemma (or: Aru, nai?). Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics, 20(Winter), 55-72.