Indo-European family who is included. Indo-European family of languages, general characteristics
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, one of the largest language families of Eurasia, spread over the past five centuries also in Northern and South America, Australia and partly in Africa. Before the Age of the Greats geographical discoveries Indo-European languages occupied the territory from Ireland in the west to East Turkestan in the east and from Scandinavia in the north to India in the south. The Indo-European family includes about 140 languages, which are spoken by a total of about 2 billion people (2007, estimate), the first place in terms of the number of speakers is English language.
The importance of learning Indo European languages in the development of comparative historical linguistics. The Indo-European languages were one of the first families of languages of great temporal depth postulated by linguists. Other families in science, as a rule, were singled out (directly or at least indirectly), focusing on the experience of studying Indo-European languages, just as comparative-historical grammars and dictionaries (primarily etymological) for other language families took into account the experience of relevant works on the material of Indo-European languages. languages for which these works were first created. It was during the study of Indo-European languages that the ideas of the parent language, regular phonetic correspondences, reconstruction of the linguistic, genealogical tree of languages were first formulated; a comparative-historical method has been developed.
Within the Indo-European family, the following branches (groups) are distinguished, including those consisting of one language: Indo-Iranian languages, Greek, Italic languages (including Latin), descendants of Latin, Romance languages, Celtic languages, Germanic languages, Baltic languages, Slavic languages, Armenian, Albanian, Hitto-Luvian languages (Anatolian) and Tocharian languages. In addition, it includes a number of extinct languages \u200b\u200b(known from extremely scarce sources - as a rule, from a few inscriptions, glosses, anthroponyms and toponyms from Greek and Byzantine authors): Phrygian, Thracian, Illyrian, Messapian, Venetian, ancient Macedonian language. These languages cannot be reliably assigned to any of the known branches (groups) and may represent separate branches (groups).
Undoubtedly, there were other Indo-European languages. Some of them died out without a trace, others left a few traces in toponomastics and substrate vocabulary (see Substrate). Attempts were made to restore individual Indo-European languages in these footsteps. The most famous reconstructions of this kind are the Pelasgian language (the language of the pre-Greek population Ancient Greece) and the Cimmerian language, which supposedly left traces of borrowing in the Slavic and Baltic languages. The identification of the layer of Pelasgian borrowings in the Greek language and Cimmerian borrowings in the Balto-Slavic languages, based on the establishment of a special system of regular phonetic correspondences, different from those that are characteristic of the original vocabulary, allows us to build a number of Greek, Slavic and Baltic words that had no etymology before. Indo-European roots. It is difficult to determine the specific genetic affiliation of the Pelasgian and Cimmerian languages.
Over the past few centuries, during the expansion of the Indo-European languages, several dozen new languages - pidgins - were formed on the Germanic and Romance basis, some of which subsequently creolized (see Creole languages) and became quite full-fledged languages both grammatically and functionally. These are Tok Pisin, Bislama, Krio in Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Equatorial Guinea (on an English basis); sechelva on Seychelles, Haitian, Mauritian and Reunion (on Reunion Island in Indian Ocean; see Creoles) Creoles (based on French); unzerdeutsch in papua new guinea(on a German basis); palenquero in Colombia (on a Spanish basis); Cabuverdianu, Crioulo (both in Cape Verde) and Papiamento in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao (on a Portuguese basis). In addition, some international artificial languages such as Esperanto are basically Indo-European.
The traditional branching scheme of the Indo-European family is shown in the diagram.
The collapse of the Proto-Indo-European base language dates back to no later than the 4th millennium BC. The greatest antiquity of the branch of the Hitto-Luvian languages is not in doubt, the time of the separation of the Tocharian branch is more controversial due to the scarcity of Tocharian data.
Attempts were made to unite the various Indo-European branches among themselves; for example, hypotheses were expressed about the special proximity of the Baltic and Slavic, Italic and Celtic languages. The most commonly recognized is the union of the Indo-Aryan languages and Iranian languages (as well as the Dardic languages and Nuristani languages) into the Indo-Iranian branch - in some cases it is possible to restore the verbal formulas that existed in the Indo-Iranian proto-language. The Balto-Slavic unity causes a little more controversy, other hypotheses in modern science are rejected. In principle, different linguistic features divide the Indo-European linguistic space in different ways. Thus, according to the results of the development of Indo-European back-lingual consonants, Indo-European languages are divided into the so-called satem languages and centum languages (the associations are named after the reflection of the Proto-Indo-European word “hundred” in different languages: in satem languages, its initial sound is reflected in the form “s”, “sh” and etc., in centum ones - in the form of "k", "x", etc.). The use of different sounds (bh and sh) in case endings divides the Indo-European languages into the so-called -mi-languages (Germanic, Baltic, Slavic) and -bhi-languages (Indo-Iranian, Italic, Greek). Different indicators of the passive voice unite, on the one hand, the Italic, Celtic, Phrygian and Tocharian languages (indicator -d), on the other hand, Greek and Indo-Iranian languages (indicator -i). The presence of an augment (a special verbal prefix that conveys the meaning of the past tense) contrasts the Greek, Phrygian, Armenian and Indo-Iranian languages with all others. For almost any pair of Indo-European languages, you can find a number of common linguistic features and lexemes that will be absent in other languages; on this observation was based the so-called wave theory (see Genealogical classification languages). A. Meie proposed the above diagram of the dialect division of the Indo-European community.
The reconstruction of the Indo-European proto-language is facilitated by the presence of a sufficient number of ancient written monuments in the languages of different branches of the Indo-European family: from the 17th century BC, the monuments of the Hitto-Luvian languages are known, from the 14th century BC - Greek, approximately by the 12th century BC it belongs (recorded significantly later) the language of the hymns of the Rigveda, by the 6th century BC - monuments of the ancient Persian language, from the end of the 7th century BC - of the Italic languages. In addition, some languages that received writing much later retained a number of archaic features.
The main correspondences of consonants in the languages of different branches of the Indo-European family are shown in the table.
In addition, the so-called laryngeal consonants are being restored - partly on the basis of the consonants h, hh attested in the Hitto-Luvian languages, partly on the basis of systemic considerations. The number of laryngeals, as well as their exact phonetic interpretation, varies among researchers. The structure of the system of Indo-European occlusive consonants is presented differently in different works: some scientists believe that the Indo-European parent language distinguished between voiceless, voiced and voiced aspirated consonants (this point of view is presented in the table), others suggest a contrast between deaf, abruptive and voiced or deaf, strong and voiced consonants (in the last two concepts, aspiration is an optional feature of both voiced and voiceless consonants), etc. There is also a point of view according to which 4 series of stops were distinguished in the Indo-European proto-language: voiced, deaf, voiced aspirated and deaf aspirated - just as is the case, for example, in Sanskrit.
The reconstructed Indo-European proto-language appears, like the ancient Indo-European languages, as a language with a developed case system, rich verbal morphology, and complex accentuation. Both the name and the verb have 3 numbers - singular, dual and plural. The problem for the reconstruction of a number of grammatical categories in the Proto-Indo-European language is the lack of corresponding forms in the ancient Indo-European languages - Hitto-Luvian: this state of affairs may indicate either that these categories developed in Proto-Indo-European quite late, after the separation of the Hitto-Luvian branch, or that the Hittite-Luvian languages have undergone significant changes in the grammatical system.
The Indo-European proto-language is characterized by rich possibilities of word formation, including compounding; using reduplication. The alternations of sounds were widely represented in it - both automatic and performing a grammatical function.
The syntax was characterized, in particular, by the agreement of adjectives and demonstrative pronouns with definable nouns by gender, number and case, the use of enclitic particles (placed after the first fully stressed word in a sentence; see Clitics). The word order in the sentence was probably free [perhaps the preferred order was "subject (S) + direct object (O) + verb-predicate (V)"].
Ideas about the Proto-Indo-European language continue to be revised and refined in a number of aspects - this is due, firstly, to the emergence of new data (the discovery of the Anatolian and Tocharian languages in the late 19th and early 20th centuries played a special role), and secondly, to the expansion of knowledge about the device human language in general.
The reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European lexical fund makes it possible to judge the culture of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, as well as their ancestral home (see Indo-Europeans).
According to the theory of V. M. Illich-Svitych, the Indo-European family - component the so-called Nostratic macrofamily (see Nostratic languages), which makes it possible to verify the Indo-European reconstruction by external comparison data.
The typological diversity of the Indo-European languages is great. Among them, there are languages with a basic word order: SVO, such as Russian or English; SOV, as, for example, many Indo-Iranian languages; VSO, such as Irish [compare the Russian sentence "The father praises the son" and its translations in Hindi - pita bete kl tarif karta hai (literally - 'The father of the son who makes praise is') and in Irish - Moraionn an tathar a mhac (literally - 'A father praises his son')]. Some Indo-European languages use prepositions, others use postpositions [compare Russian 'near the house' and Bengali baritar kache (literally 'at home')]; some are nominative (like the languages of Europe; see Nominative system), others have an ergative construction (for example, in Hindi; see Ergative system); some retained a significant part of the Indo-European case system (like Baltic and Slavic), others lost cases (for example, English), others (Tocharian) developed new cases from postpositions; some tend to express grammatical meanings within a significant word (synthetism), others - with the help of special functional words (analyticism), etc. In Indo-European languages, one can find such phenomena as izafet (in Iranian), group inflection (in Tocharian), opposition of inclusive and exclusive (tok-pisin).
Modern Indo-European languages use scripts based on the Greek alphabet (languages of Europe; see Greek script), Brahmi scripts (Indo-Aryan; see Indian script), some Indo-European languages use scripts Semitic origin. For a number of ancient languages, cuneiform writing was used (Hitto-Luvian, Old Persian), hieroglyphics (Luvian hieroglyphic language); the ancient Celts used the Ogham alphabet.
Lit. : Brugmann K., Delbrück V. Grundriß der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen. 2. Aufl. Strasbourg, 1897-1916. Bd 1-2; Indogermanische Grammatik / Hrsg. J. Kurylowicz. HDlb., 1968-1986. Bd 1-3; Semereni O. Introduction to Comparative Linguistics. M., 1980; Gamkrelidze T. V., Ivanov Vyach. Sun. Indo-European language and Indo-Europeans: Reconstruction and historical-typological analysis of proto-language and proto-culture. Tb., 1984. Part 1-2; Beekes R.S.P. Comparative Indo-European linguistics. Amst., 1995; Meie A. Introduction to the comparative study of Indo-European languages. 4th ed., M., 2007. Dictionaries: Schrader O. Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde. 2. Aufl. IN.; Lpz., 1917-1929. Bd 1-2; Pokorny J. Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Bern; Munch., 1950-1969. Lfg 1-18.
Indo-European language family, the most widely spoken in the world. Its distribution area includes almost all of Europe, both Americas and continental Australia, as well as a significant part of Africa and Asia. Over 2.5 billion people speak Indo-European languages. All languages belong to this family of languages. modern Europe, with the exception of Basque, Hungarian, Sami, Finnish, Estonian and Turkish, as well as several Altaic and Uralic languages \u200b\u200bof European Russia. The name "Indo-European" is conditional. In Germany, the term "Indo-Germanic" was used, and in Italy - "Ario-European" to indicate that ancient people and an ancient language from which all later Indo-European languages are generally believed to have descended. The alleged ancestral home of this hypothetical people, whose existence is not supported by any historical evidence (except linguistic), is considered Eastern Europe or Western Asia.
the most ancient famous monuments Indo-European languages are Hittite texts dating back to the 17th century. BC. Different writing systems were used to write the Indo-European languages. Hittite cuneiform, Palai, Luvian and Old Persian were written in cuneiform, Luvian hieroglyphic - in a special hieroglyphic syllabary, Sanskrit - with the help of Kharoshtha, Devanagari, Brahmi and other alphabets; Avestan and Pahlavi - in special alphabets, modern Persian - in Arabic script. According to currently available information, all types of alphabets used and used by the languages of Europe come from the Phoenician.
The Indo-European family of languages includes at least twelve groups of languages. In order geographical location, moving clockwise from northwestern Europe, these are the following groups: Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Tocharian, Indian, Iranian, Armenian, Hitto-Luvian, Greek, Albanian, Italic (including Latin and the Romance languages \u200b\u200bderived from it, which are sometimes distinguished into a separate group). Of these, three groups (Italic, Hitto-Luvian, and Tocharian) consist entirely of dead languages.
The first scholar to logically deduce the possibility of an original Indo-European proto-language was Sir William Jones. The Indo-European parent language was undoubtedly an inflectional language, i.e. its morphological meanings were expressed by changing the endings of words; in this language there was no prefixation and almost no infixation; he had three genders - masculine, feminine and neuter, differed at least six cases; nouns and verbs were distinctly opposed; heteroclise (i.e. irregularity in paradigm, cf. fero: tuli or I am: I was) was widespread. There was a very advanced system vowel alternations that performed morphological functions, the remnants of which are partly preserved - for example, in English (cf. give, gave, given; drive, driven, driven; sing, sang, sung, etc.) and, to a lesser extent, in Russian (cf. remove, remove, clean). The roots were modified by adding one or more root determinants (suffixes) and endings to the right.
With the help of reconstruction, one can try to identify the "ancestral home" of the Indo-Europeans, i.e. the last territory of their settlement before the first division, which took place at the latest in the III millennium BC. The widespread use of designations for "snow" (English snow, German Schnee, Latin nix, Russian snow, Lithuanian, etc.) and "winter" (Latin hiems, Lithuanian ziemà, Russian winter, Vedic himás), in contrast to the lack of common designations for "summer" and "autumn", clearly point to the cold northern ancestral home. This is also evidenced by the presence of the names of the trees given above, in the absence or late appearance of the names of trees growing in the Mediterranean area and requiring a warm climate, such as fig tree, cypress, laurel and grapevine. The names of tropical and subtropical animals (such as cat, donkey, monkey, camel, lion, tiger, hyena, elephant) are also late, while the names of bear, wolf, and otter are early. On the other hand, the presence of these names of animals and plants and the absence of the names of polar animals (seal, sea lion, walrus) and plants definitely speaks against the polar ancestral home.
One of the scientists who defended the Baltic hypothesis was G. Bender, other researchers named Scandinavia, Northern Germany as the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans, South Russia along with the Danube area, as well as the Kyrgyz and Altai steppes. The theory of the Asian ancestral home, very popular in the 19th century, in the 20th century. supported only by some ethnologists, but rejected by almost all linguists. The theory of the Eastern European ancestral home located on the territory of Russia, Romania or Baltic countries, finds confirmation in the fact that the Indo-European people had long and close contacts with the Finnish peoples in the north and with the Sumerian and Semitic cultures of Mesopotamia in the south.
Indo-European family consists of Indian group, Iranian group, Slavic group (divided into eastern subgroup, western, southern), Baltic group, Germanic group (divided into northern or Scandinavian subgroup, western, eastern or east Germanic), Romanesque group, Celtic group, Greek group Indian group, Hindi, Urdu, Gypsy, Bengali (dead - Vedic, Sonskrit, Pali, Prakrit).
Iranian group, Persian (Farsi), Afghan (Pashto), Tajik, Ossetian (dead - Old Persian, Avestan, Khorezmian, Scythian).
Slavic group . Eastern subgroup (Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian). Western subgroup (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Lusatian), dead - Popabian, Pomfian dialects. Southern subgroup (Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian; Macedonian, Slovenian), dead - Old Church Slavonic.
Baltic group. Latvian, Lithuanian (dead - Prussian).
German group. Northern (Scandinavian) subgroup (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese). Western subgroup (English, German, Frisian, Yiddish, Afrikaans). Eastern (East Germanic) subgroup, only the dead - Gothic (divided into Visigothic and Ostrogothic), Burgunian.
Roman group, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Moldavian, Romanian, Macedonian-Romanian, Romansh, Provencal, Sardinian, Galician, Catalan, Dead - Latin, Medieval Vulgar Latin. Celtic group, Irish, Scottish, Welsh (Welsh), Cornish, Breton.
Greek group, only the dead - Ancient Greek, Middle Greek, Modern Greek.
Albanian group- Albanian.
Armenian group- Armenian.
Analytical languages- this is the name in their classification of languages, the brothers Friedrich and August Schlegel gave the new Indo-European languages.
IN ancient world Bol-in languages had a strong synthetic character, for example. lang. Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, etc. From the history of the development of languages, it is clear that all languages tend to acquire an analytical character over time: with each new era, the number characteristic features analytical class increases.
The new Indo-European languages experienced significant simplifications in their grammatical system. Instead of a large number of forms, replete with all sorts of anomalies, simpler and more standard forms appeared.
Comparing the old Indo-European languages with the new ones, O. Jespersen (a Danish linguist) found a number of advantages in the grammatical structure of the latter. Forms have become shorter, requiring less muscular tension and time to pronounce them, there are fewer of them, memory is not overloaded with them, their formation has become more regular, the syntactic use of forms shows fewer anomalies, the more analytical and abstract nature of the forms makes them easier to express, allowing for the possibility of multiple combinations and constructions that were previously impossible, the cumbersome repetition known as agreement has disappeared, a fixed word order provides clarity and unambiguity of understanding.
The so-called synthetic structure characteristic of ancient Indo-European languages (where grammatical meanings are expressed within the word itself, affixation, internal inflection, stress) in many modern Indo-European languages \u200b\u200bwas replaced by an analytical system (grammatical meanings are mainly expressed outside the word, about the sentence, the order of the layer in the sentence , service words, intonation). O. Jespersen argued that these processes mean the victory of a higher and more perfect linguistic form. Independent particles, auxiliary words (prepositions, auxiliary verbs), in his opinion, are a higher technical means of expressing thought than the old inflection.
The new languages took on an analytic character; Most of the European languages moved in this direction, the language of English, which left only small remnants of declensions and conjugations. There are almost no inclinations and French, but there are still conjugations that are also quite strongly developed in German, where the declension is preserved on a wider scale than in the Romance languages. However, two groups of new languages differ from all of them: Slavic and Baltic. Synthetic character traits still prevail here.
5. Macrocomparatives. Macrofamilies of world languages (Nostratic, Sino-Caucasian, Amerindian, etc.). Macrocomparative studies * The theory of distant relationship of languages.
At present, discussions on the issue of the distant relationship of languages (macro-comparative studies) are beginning to play an increasingly important role in comparative studies. The successful development and application of the comparative historical method has led to the fact that the vast majority of taxonomic units have already been identified, and attempts to deepen comparisons seem quite natural. The definition of linguistic kinship, in principle, does not depend on the time of the collapse of the proto-language. It is clear, however, that with very small proportions of coincidences (that is, with very distant kinship), it is difficult to establish regular correspondences in comparison.
The scientific stage of the development of the Nostratic theory began in the 60s with a series of articles by our scientists - V.M. Illich-Svitych and A.B. Dolgopolsky. Illich-Svitych established a detailed system of correspondences between the proto-languages of six language families of the Old World - Semitic-Hamitic, Kartvelian, Indo-European, Uralic, Dravidian and Altaic. According to the generally accepted opinion, the main core of the Nostratic family is the Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic languages. The similarity of pronominal systems is especially indicative, as well as a large number of parallels in basic vocabulary.
Another macrofamily, the existence of which was revealed by S.A. Starostin, - the so-called Sino-Caucasian. The Sino-Caucasian hypothesis suggests the existence of an ancient genetic relationship between rather geographically distant language families: North Caucasian, Yenisei and Sino-Tibetan. A rather complex system of correspondences was also established here and a large number of parallels were found in the basic vocabulary. It is possible that before the speakers of the Nostratic languages settled in the territory of Eurasia, the Sino-Caucasian languages were much more widespread. The Sino-Caucasian hypothesis is still at the beginning of development, but this direction seems to be very promising.
Hypotheses about the existence of other macrofamilies have been developed to an even lesser extent.
The Austrian hypothesis suggests a relationship between the Austronesian, Austroasiatic, Thai, and Miao Yao languages. There are a number of parallels between these language families in the field of basic vocabulary.
The Khoisan macrofamily includes all the languages of Africa in which there are special clicking sounds ("klixes") and which, at the same time, do not belong to other language families, i.e. the languages of the Bushmen, Hottentots, and also, possibly, San-Dave, Hadza and the (extinct) Quadi.
There are also a number of assumptions by J. Greenberg (American linguist) regarding the existence of other macrofamilies: Amerindian, Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Kordofanian and Indo-Pacific. However, unlike those hypotheses that I have already mentioned, these assumptions are based mainly on the "mass comparison" method, and therefore are still much more hypothetical.
The Amerindian hypothesis assumes the kinship of all American aboriginal languages, except for the languages of the Dene (Indian languages of North America) and the Eskimo-Aleutian (Arctic belt of North America). This hypothesis does not have a sufficiently rigorous linguistic justification, but it correlates well with anthropological data. In addition, there are some similarities in the field of grammar between the Amerindian languages.
The Niger-Kordofanian family includes the languages of Africa that have conciliatory classes, the Nilo-Saharan family includes other African languages that are not included in either the Afro-Asiatic, or the Khoisan, or the Niger-Kordofanian macrofamily. A hypothesis has been put forward about the special proximity of the Saharan languages \u200b\u200bto Afroasian.
It has been suggested that all the languages of Australia are related (Australian macrofamily). Almost all other languages of the world are united by J. Greenberg into the Indo-Pacific macrofamily (this hypothesis, apparently, is the least substantiated).
The chronological depth of each of these families is about 11 13 thousand years. The proto-language, to which they all go back, dates back to about 13-15 millennia BC. Naki;.,.eno has enough material to get a detailed picture of the formation and settlement of the majority of the ethnic groups of Eurasia and North America.
In our time, this family is represented on all continents, and is also known from a number of dead, ancient written languages. The time of the formation of the Indo-European family of languages, scientists attribute to the period no later than the Bronze Age, and possibly even earlier. In the future, there was a selection of language branches (groups), and even later - the languages \u200b\u200bthat exist today. The areas where the initial formation of the peoples who spoke the Indo-European languages took place have not been precisely established, and there are a significant number of hypotheses about this.
The Indo-European family includes language branches or groups, individual languages spoken by the peoples listed below.
Slavic group:
a) Eastern European subgroup. Peoples: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians;
b) West Slavic subgroup. Peoples: Poles, Lusatians, Czechs, Slovaks;
c) South Slavic subgroup. Peoples: Slovenes, Croats, Muslim Slavs (Bosniaks), Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians.
Baltic group. Peoples: Lithuanians, Latvians.
German group. Peoples: Germans, Austrians, Swiss Germans, Liechtensteiners, Alsatians, Luxembourgers, Flemings, Dutch, Frisians, Afrikaners, Jews of Europe and America, English, Scots, Scots-Irish, Anglo-Africans, Anglo-Australians, Anglo-New Zealanders, Anglo-Canadians, US Americans, Bahamians , Jamaicans, Grenadians, Barbadians, Trinidadians, Belizeans, Guyanese Creoles, Surinamese Creoles, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Faroese, Danes, etc.
Celtic group. Peoples: Irish, Gaels, Welsh, Bretons.
Roman group. Peoples: Italians, Sardinians, Sanmarines, Italo-Swiss, Corsicans, Romansh, French, Monegasques (Monegasques), Normans, Franco-Swiss, Walloons, French Canadians, Guadalupes, Martiniques, Guyanese, Haitians, Reunion Creoles, Mauritian Creoles, Seychellois, Spaniards, Gibraltarians , Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans, Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Bolivians, Chileans, Argentines, Paraguayans, Uruguayans, Catalans, Andorrans, Portuguese tsy, galicians, brazilians, antilleans , Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Istro-Romanians.
Albanian group. Albanians.
Greek group. Peoples: Greeks, Greek Cypriots, Karakachans.
Armenian group. Armenians.
Iranian group. Peoples: Talysh, Gilyans, Mazendarans, Kurds, Balochs, Lurs, Bakhtiars, Persians, Tats, Khazars, Charaimaks, Tajiks, Pamir peoples, Pashtuns (Afghans), Ossetians.
Nuristani group. Nuristani.
Indo-Aryan group. Peoples: Bengalis, Assamese, Oriya, Biharis, Tharu, Hindustanis, Rajasthani, Gujaratis, Parsis, Bhils, Marathas, Konkanis, Punjabis, Dogras, Sindhis, Western Paharis, Kumaoni, Garkhwali, Gujars, Nepalis, Kashmiris, Sheena, Kohistani , Kho, Pashai, Thirah, Indo-Mauritian, Surinamese-Indo-Pakistani, Trinidadian-Indopa-Pakistani, Fijian, Gypsy, Sinhala, Vedda, Maldivian.
Kartvelian family
Dravidian family
Peoples: Tamils, Irula, Malayali, Erava, Erukali, Kaikadi, Dinara, Badaga.
Ural-Yukaghir family
Finno-Ugric group.
Peoples: Finns, Karelians, Veps, Izhors, Estonians, Livs, Saami, Mari, Mordovians, Udmurts, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Hungarians, Khanty, Mansi.
Samoyed group. Peoples: Nenets, Enets, Nganasans, Selkups.
Yukaghir group. Yukagirs.
Altai family
Turkic group. Peoples: Turks, Turkish Cypriots, Gagauzians, Azerbaijanis, Karadags, Shahsevens, Karapapahis, Afshars, Qajars, Qashqais, Khorasan Turks, Khalajs, Turkmens, Salars, Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Bashkirs, Karachays, Balkars, Kumyks, Nogais, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Kirghiz, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Altaians, Shors, Khakasses, Tuvans, Tofalars, Yakuts, Dolgans, etc.
Mongolian group. Peoples: Mongols, Khalkha-Mongols, Mongols of the People's Republic of China, Oirats, Darkha-Kalmyks, Buryats, Daurs, etc.
Tungus-Manchu group. Peoples: Evenks, Negidals, Evens, Orochs, Udeges, Nanais, Ulchis, Oroks.
Korean family
Japanese family
Eskimo-Aleut family
Peoples: Eskimos (including Greenlanders), Aleuts.
Afroasian (Semitic-Hamitic) family
Semitic group. Peoples: Arabs of Southwest Asia and North Africa, Maltese, Jews of Israel, Assyrians, Amhara, Argobba, Harari, Gurage, Tigran, Tigre.
Berber group. Peoples: Kabils, Shauya, Reefs, Tamazight, Shilh (Shleh), Tuareg.
Chadian group. Peoples: Hausa, Angas, Sura, Ankwe, Bade, Boleva, Bura, Mandara (Vandala), Kotoko, Masa, Mubi, etc.
Kushite group. Peoples: Beja, Agau, Afar (Danakil), Sakho, Oromo (Galla), Somali, Konso, Sidamo, Omet, Kaffa, Himira, Maji, Iraqi, etc.
North Caucasian family
Abkhaz-Adyghe group. Peoples: Abkhazians, Abazins, Adyghes, Kabardians, Circassians.
Nakh-Dagestan group. Peoples: Avars (including Ando-Tsezes), Laks, Dargins, Lezgins, Udins, Aguls, Rutuls, Tsakhurs, Tabasarans, Chechens, Ingush.
Sino-Tibetan family
Chinese group. Peoples: Chinese, Hui (Dungan),
bye Tibeto-Burmese group. Peoples: Tibetans, Bhutanese, Ladakhis, Balti, Myanmar (Burmese), etc.
Groups: Bodo Garo, Miju, Digaro, Miri, Dhimal, Lekcha, East Himalayan, Newari, Gurung, West Malay.
Australo-Asiatic family
Mop-Khmer group. Peoples: Viet (Kinh), etc.
Nicobar group. Nicobars.
Khasi and Munda group.
Kadai family
Thai group. Peoples: Siamese (Khontai), Dai, Lao (Laotians).
Austronesian family
West Austronesian group. Peoples: Malays of Indonesia, Malays of Malaysia, Middle Sumatran Malays (Pasemakh, Seravey), etc.
Central Austronesian group.
East Austronesian group. 2.6.
LANGUAGE CLASSIFICATION OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD.
Historically, linguistic and ethnic affiliation often coincide, which makes linguistic classification an important basis for identifying and defining ethnic groups and ethnic communities in the study of the origin of peoples (their ethnogenesis). The languages of the peoples of the world are classified according to language families and their branches based on the methods of comparative historical linguistics and the establishment of genetic relationship between languages. At the same time, the kinship of languages can also mean kinship by origin, however, some linguists believe that during their existence a people could repeatedly change the language, which limits the possibilities of using linguistic data in solving ethnogenetic problems.
Comparative linguistics, based on the analysis of phonetics, grammar and vocabulary (lexicon), establishes the presence or absence of kinship between languages. Two or more languages are called related when they are the result of the evolution of the same language. This allows you to combine languages related by origin into language families, which are the basic units of linguistic classification. This kind of language families developed in the course of history from the "base language". But language is a historically developing and time-changing phenomenon, therefore, languages related by origin in our time can not only differ greatly from one another, but also lack many of the features that characterize their language family as a whole. Therefore, languages are not classified according to their current state, but according to the principle of historical genetic relationship. For example, related by origin Russian, English, Persian and other languages belong to the same Indo-European language family, since they go back to a common base language. But their historical development was completely different, and today mutual understanding between the speakers of these languages is impossible. Over time, dialects develop within the language, which can become independent languages. Unlike language, which serves as a means of communication for an entire ethnic community, dialect (dialect, adverb)- this is a regional variant within the language, used by a limited group of people connected by a territorial, and sometimes social or other community.
Language is a social phenomenon and can only exist in society. As a historical phenomenon, language is constantly evolving, its main elements are changing: grammar, vocabulary, phonetics. Most often, a spontaneous change occurs, which is a consequence of the continuity of generations and the accumulation of innovations in the language without borrowing from foreign languages. There are also changes associated with borrowings from foreign languages. Finally, there is a change of language by the population. According to linguists, in areas with long-established civilizations, the change of language was at least once, but often and more often. At the same time, the former language as a substrate influenced the development of the new language. All these phenomena led to the branching of the original base language, the folding of language families, their branches and smaller groups. And since ethnic groups and languages often coincide, linguistic classification is one of the bases for identifying ethnic communities and establishing their origin.
Scientists are trying to discover connections between entire language families, dating back to even more ancient times and languages, but this problem is still hypothetical. So, in particular, it has been suggested that in ancient times a number of language families known today were united into a single family of "Nostratic" languages. This hypothetical macrofamily included the languages of Eurasia and Africa: Indo-European, Kartvelian, Semitic-Hamitic, Uralic, Turkic, Mongolian, Tungus-Manchurian, Korean, Dravidian languages and many others.
The number of language families, and even more so their groups (language branches), languages, etc. the peoples speaking them are very large, and therefore here we have to limit ourselves to listing only the main families and groups, as well as language families and languages, although small peoples, but for one reason or another, of particular importance for ethnology and the history of primitive society.
INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY
In our time, it is widely represented on all continents, and is also known from a number of dead, ancient written languages. The time of the formation of the Indo-European family of languages, scientists attribute to the period no later than the Bronze Age, and possibly even earlier. In the future, there was a selection of language branches (groups), and even later - the languages \u200b\u200bthat exist today. The area where the initial formation of the peoples who spoke the Indo-European languages occurred has not been precisely established, and there are a significant number of hypotheses about this.
The Indo-European family includes language branches or groups, individual languages spoken by the following peoples:
Slavic group:
a) East Slavic subgroup. Peoples: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians;
b) West Slavic subgroup. Peoples, Poles, Lusatians, Czechs, Slovaks;
c) South Slavic subgroup. Peoples: Slovenes, Croats, Muslim Slavs (Bosniaks), Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians.
Baltic group. Peoples: Lithuanians, Latvians.
German group. Peoples: Germans, Austrians, German-Swiss, Liechtensteiners, Alsatians, Luxembourgers, Flemings, Dutch, Frisians, Afrikaners, Jews of Europe and America, English, Scots, Jutlando-Irlapdians, Anglo-Africans, Anglo-Australians, Anglo-Sealanders, Anglo-Canadians, US Americans, Bahamians, Sent .ggeny, Jamaicans, Grenadians, Barbadians, Trinidadians, Belizeans, Guyanese Creoles, Surinamese Creoles, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Faroese, Danes.
Celtic group. Peoples: Irish, Gaels, Welsh, Bretons.
Roman group. Peoples: Italians, Sardinians, Sanmarines, Italo-Swedes-Tsars, Corsicans, Rhaeto-Romans, French, Monegasques (Monegasques), Normans, Franco-Swiss, Walloons, French Canadians, Guadalupes, Martiniques, Guyanese, Haitians, Reunion Creoles, Mauritian Creoles, Seychellois, Spaniards , Gibraltarians, Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans, Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Bolivians, Chileans, Argentines, Paraguayans, Uruguayans, Catalans, Andor rci, portuguese, galicians, brazilians , Antilles, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromans, Istro-Romanians.
Albanian group. Albanians.
Greek group. Peoples: Greeks, Greek Cypriots, Karakachans.
Armenian group. Armenians.
Iranian group. Peoples: Talysh, Gilyans, Mazendarans, Kurds, Balochs, Lurs, Bakhtiars, Persians, Tats, Khazars, Charaimaks, Tajiks, Pamir peoples, Pashtuns (Afghans), Ossetians.
Nuristani group. Nuristani.
Indo-Aryan group. Peoples: Bengalis, Assamese, Oriya, Biharis, Tharu, Hindustanis, Rajasthani, Gujaratis, Parsis, Bhils, Marathas, Konkanis, Punjabis, Dogras, Sindhis, Western Paharis, Kumaoni, Garkhwali, Gujars, Nepalis, Kashmiris, Sheena, Kohistanis, Kho , Pashai, Tirahi, Indo-Mauritians, Indo-Pakistani Surinamese, Indopakistani Trinidadians, Fijian Indians, Gypsies, Sinhalese, Veddas, Maldivians.
Iranian languages: western (Farsi (Persian), as well as Dari-Itadjik, Kurdish, Baloch, Talysh, etc.); Eastern (Pashto, Pamir, Ossetian, etc.).
URAL-YUKAGIR FAMILY
Finno-Ugric group. Peoples: Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Izhors, Estonians, Livs, Saami, Mari, Mordovians, Udmurts, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Hungarians, Khanty, Mansi.
Samoyed group. Peoples: Nenets, Enets, Nganasans, Selkups.
Yukagir group. Yukagirs.
ALTAI FAMILY
Turkic group. Peoples: Turks, Turks-Cypriots, Gagauza, Azerbaijanis, Karadagtsy, Shakhsevienes, Karapapakhi, Afchars, Kajars, Kashkaytsy, Khorasan Turks, Chaladzhi, Turkmen, Salars, Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Bashkirs Karachai, Balkars, Kumyki, Nogais, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs, Kazakhs , Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks Uighurs, Altaians, Shors, Khakasses, Tuvans, Tofalars, Uryankhais, Yugu, Dolgan Yakuts.
Mongolian group. Peoples: Khalkha Mongols, PRC Mongols, Oirats, Darhats, Kalmyks, Buryats, Daurs, Tu (Mongors), Dongxiang, Baoan, Mughals.
Tungus-Manchu group. Peoples: Evenks, Negidals, Evens, Orochs, Udeges, Nanais, Ulchis, Oroks.
THE KARTWELL FAMILY. Georgians.
DRAVID FAMILY
Southern group. Peoples: Tamils, Irula, Malayali, Erawa, Erukala, Kaykadi, Kannara, Badaga, Kurumba, Toda, Kodagu, Tulu, Telugu.
Central group. Peoples: Kolami, Parji, Gadaba, Gond, Khond (Kuy, Kuvi), Konda.
Northeast group. Peoples: Oraon (Kurukh), Malto.
Northwest group. Bragui.
KOREAN FAMILY. Koreans.
JAPANESE FAMILY. Japanese.
ESKIMOS-ALEUT FAMILY. Peoples: Eskimos (including Greenlanders), Aleuts.
SINO-TIBETA FAMILY
Chinese group. Peoples: Chinese, Hui (Dungan), Bai.
Tibeto-Burmese group. Peoples: Tibetans, Bhotia, Sherpa, Bhutanese, Ladakhi, Balti, Magar, Qiang, Myanmar (Burmese), Izu, Tuja, Naxi, Hani, Lisu, Lahu, Chin, Kuki, Mizo (Lush), Manipur (Meithei) , naga, mikir, karens, kaya.
Kachinskaya group. Peoples: Kachin (Jingpo), Sak, etc.
Bodo-garo group. Peoples: Garo, Bodo, Tripura, etc.
Miju group. Miju people.
Digaro group. Peoples: digaro, midu.
Miri group. Peoples: Adi (Abor), Miri, etc.
Dhimal group. Dhimal people.
Leccha group. The people are lekcha.
East Himalayan group. Peoples: Paradise (Kirati), Limbu, etc.
Newari group. Newari people.
Gurung group. Peoples: Gurung, Tamang (Murumi), Limbu, etc.
AFRASIAN (SEMITE-HAMITE) FAMILY
Semitic group. Peoples: Arabs of Southwest Asia and North Africa, Maltese, Jews of Israel, Assyrians, Amhara, Argobba, Harari, Gurage, Tigray, Tigre.
Berber group. Peoples: Kabils, Shauya, Reefs, Tamazight, Shilh (Shleh), Tuareg.
Chadian group. Peoples: Hausa, Angas, Sura, Ankwe, Bade, Boleva, Bura, Mandara (Vandala), Kotoko, Masa, Mubi, etc.
Kushite group. Peoples: Beja, Agau, Afar (Danakil), Sakho, Oromo (Galla), Somali, Konso, Sidamo, Ometo, Kaffa, Gimira, Maji, etc.
NIGER-KORDOFAN (CONGO-KARDAFAN) FAMILY.
Mande group. Peoples: Malinke, Bambara, Gyula, Soninke, Susu, Mende, Kpel-le, Dan, etc.
Niger-Congo group:
a) West Atlantic subgroup. Peoples: Fulbe, Tukuler, Wolof, Serer, Diola, Bolante, Temne, Kisei, Limba, etc.;
b) a subgroup of the central Niger-Congo. Gur peoples: moi, gurma, somba, bobo, pears, tem, cabre, loby, bariba, kulango, senufo, dogon, etc. Kru peoples: kru, here, grebo, bahwe, bete, etc. Western peoples: akan, anyi , Baule, Guang, Ga, Adangme, Ewe, Fon, etc. Oriental peoples: Yoruba, Gegala, Nule, Gwari, Igbira, Idamo, Bini, Igbo, Jukun, Ibibio, Kambari, Katab, Tiv, Ekoi, Bamileke, Tikar, duala, fang, makaa, teke, bobangi, ngombe, bua, mongo, tetela, konzo, rwanda (nyaruanada), rundi, ha, nyoro, nyankole, kiga, ganda, soga, haya, ziba, luhya, gishu, geese, kikuyu , meru, kamba, chaga, mijikenda, fipa, nyamwezi, gogo, shamballa, zaramo, swahili, comoros, hehe, bena, kinga, congo, ambundu, chokwe, liona, luba, lunda, konde, tonga, matengo, bemba, malavi , Yao, Makonde, Makua, Lomwe, Ovim-Bundu, Ovambo, Shona, Venda, Tswana, Pedi, Suto, Lozi, Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Ndebele, Matebele, Ngoni, Tsonga (Shangaan), Santomy, Pygmies, etc. Adamua - Ubangi peoples: Chamba, Mumuye, Mbum, Gbaya, Ngbandi, Mundu, Sere, Banda, Zande (Azande), Mba, Binga Pygmies, etc.
Kordofan group. Peoples: Ebang, Tegali, Talodi, Katla, Kadugli.
NILO-SAHARAN FAMILY
East Sudanese group. Peoples: Nubians, Mountain Nubians, Murle, Tama, Daju, Dinka, Kumam, Nuer, Shilluk, Acholi, Lango, Alur, Luo (Joluo), Kalenjin, Bari, Lotuko, Masai, Teso, Turkana, Karamojong.
Central Sudanese group. Peoples: Kresh, Bongo, Sarah, Bagirmi, Moru, Mangbetu, Efe and Asua Pygmies. Berta group. Berta people.
Kunam group. Kunama people.
Sahara group. Peoples: Kanuri, Tubu, Zagawa.
Songhai group. Peoples: Songhai, Dyerma, Dandy.
Truck group. Fur people.
Komuz group. Peoples: coma, running.
KOISAN FAMILY
South African Khoisan group. Peoples: Hottentots, mountain Damara, Kung Bushmen, Kham Bushmen, etc.
Sandave group. Sandawe people.
Hadza group. Hadza people.
NORTH CAUCASIAN FAMILY
Abkhaz-Adyghe group. Peoples: Abkhazians, Abazins, Adyghes, Kabardians, Circassians.
Nakh-Dagestan group. Peoples: Avars (including Ando-Tsezes), Laks, Dargins, Lezgins, Udins, Aguls, Rutuls, Tsakhurs, Tabasarans, Chechens, Ingush.
Western Himalayan group. Peoples: Kanauri, Lakhuli, etc.
AUSTROASIAN FAMILY
Mon-Khmer group. Peoples: Viet (Kin), Muong, Tho, Khmer, Sui, Sedang, Kui, Khre (Tamre), Bahnar, Mnong, Sieng, Koho (Sre), Moi, Wa, Palaung (Benglun), Puteng, Bulan, Lamet, ahem.
Ashley group. Peoples: Senoi, Semangs.
Nicobar group. Nicobar people.
Khasi group. Khasi peoples.
Munda group. Peoples: Santals, Munda, Ho, Bhumij, Kurku, Kharia.
MYAO-YAO FAMILY
Peoples: Miao, She, Yao.
FAMILY KADAI
Thai group. Peoples: Siamese (Khontai), Fuan, Li (Liu), Shan, Danu, Khun, Dai, Lao (Laotians), Thai, Phutai, Tai, Nung, Santai, Zhuang. Kamsu group. Peoples: Dun (Kam), Shui (Sui). Ong-be group. Ong Be people . Is it a group. Is it the people? Lakkya group. Lakkya people. Gelao group. Peoples: Gelao (Galo), Mulao (Mulem), Maonan.
AUSTRONESIAN FAMILY
West Austronesian group. Peoples: Cham (Tyam), Raglai, Ede (Rade), Zarai, Malays of Indonesia, Malays of Malaysia, Malays, Minangkabau, Kerinchi, Rejang, Middle Sumatran Malays (Pasemakh, Seravey), Lembak, Banjars, Iban, Kedayan, Kubu, Aceh, Madurians, Guyo, Bataks, Alas, Simalurians, Niasians, Abung (Lampungians), Sunds, Javanese, Tengger, Balinese, Sasak, Sumbavians, Barito-Dayaks (Maanyan, etc.), Ngaju, Otdanum, Sushi Dayaks (Clementan), Murut , Kadazan (Dusun), Kelabit, Melanau, Kayan, Punan, Kenyah, Bajao (Oranglaut), Bugis (Boogie), Makassar, Mandar, Butungs, Toraja, Tomini, Mori, Lalaki, Bunglu, Loinang, Banggay, Gorontalo, Bolaang- Mongondou, Minahasa, Sangirese, Malagasy, Talaudian, Tagaly, Kapam-Pagan, Sambal, Pangasinan, Iloki, Ibanang, Bikol, Bisaya (Visaya), Tausoug, Mara-Nao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Samal, Inibaloi, Kankanai, Bontok, Ifugao , Itneg, Kalinga, Itavi, Palavegno, Davavegno, Tagakaulu, Subanon, Bukidnon, Manobo, Thirurai, Tboli, Blaan, Bogobo, Aeta, Chamorro, Belau, Yap, etc.
Central Austronesian group. Peoples: Bima, Sumbans, Manggarai, Ende, Lio, Khavu, Sikka, Lamakholot, Rotians, Ema (Kemak), Atoni, Tetum, Mambai, Kei, etc.
East Austronesian group.
Melanesian peoples: South Halmaherans, Biaknumphorians, Takia, Adzera, Motu, Sinagoro, Keapara, Kilivila and other Melanesians of Papua New Guinea, Areare and other Melanesians of the Solomon Islands, Erats and other Melanesians of Vanuatu, Kanaks (Melanesians of New Caledonia), Fijians, Rotuma.
Micronesian peoples: Truk, Pokhipei, Kosrae, Kiribati, Nauru, etc.
Polynesian peoples: Tonga, Niue, Tuvalu, Futuna, Uvea, Samoa, Tokelau, Pukapuka, Rarotonga, Tahitians, Tubuai, Paumotu (Tuamotu), Marquesans, Mangareva, Maori, Hawaiians, Rapanui, etc.
ANDAMAN FAMILY Peoples: Onge and others.
TRANSNEW GUINEAN FAMILY. Peoples: Enga, Khuli, Angal, Keva, Khagen, Wahgi, Chimbu, Kamano, Dani, Ekachi, Yagalik, Asmat, Kapau, Bunak, etc.
SEPIK-RAMU FAMILY. Peoples: Abelam, Boyken, etc.
THE TORRICHELLI FAMILY. Peoples: Olo, Arapesh, etc.
WEST PAPUAN FAMILY. Peoples: Ternats, Tidorians, Galela, Tobelo, etc.
EAST PAPUAN FAMILY. Peoples: Nation, Buin, etc.
NORTH AMERICAN FAMILY
Group of continental na-den. Peoples: Athabaskans, Apaches, Navajos, etc.
Hyde group. Haida people.
Almosan-quereciu group. Peoples: Algonquins (including Cree, Montagne, Nasca Pi, Ojibwe, etc.), Wakash, Salish, Keres, Dakota (Sioux), Caddo, Iroquois, Cherokee, etc.
Penut group. Peoples: Tsimshian, Sahaptin, Californian Penuti, Muskogee, Totonaki, Mikhe, Huasteq, Chol, Choctaw, Tzotzil, Canhobal, Mam, Maya, Quiche, Kakchi-Kel, etc.
Hoka group. Peoples: Tequislatec, Tlapanec, etc.
CENTRAL AMERICAN FAMILY
Yuto-Aztec group. Peoples: Shoshone, Papago-Pima, Tepeuan, Yaqui, Mayo, Tarahumara, Nahuatl (Aztecs), Pipil, etc.
Pano group. Peoples: Tewa, Kiowa, etc.
Oto-mange group. Peoples: Otomi, Masawa, Mazatec, Mixtek, Zapotek, etc.
ANDean FAMILY
Quechua group. Quechua people. Aymara group. Aymara people.
Southern group. Peoples: Mapuche (Araucans), Puelche, Tehuelche, Selknam (she), Kavaskar (Alakaluf), Yamana.
EQUATORIAL-TUCANOAN FAMILY
Group of macro-tucano. Peoples: Tukano, Maku, Katukina, Nambikwara, etc. equatorial group. Peoples: Arawaks, Guaivo, Jivaro, Tupi (including Guarani), Samuco, etc.
CHIBCHA-PAES FAMILY
Chibcha group. Peoples: Tarasca, Lenca, Miskito, Guaimi, Kuna, Yanomam, etc. Paes group. Peoples: Embera, Warao, etc.
ZHEPANO-CARIBBEAN FAMILY
Caribbean group. Peoples: Caribs, Witoto, etc. The same-pano group. Peoples: pano, matako, toba, same, kaingang, botokudo, bororo, etc.:
AUSTRALIAN FAMILY
Peoples: Mabunag, Dhuwal, Jangu, Gugu-yimidhirr, Aranda, Alya Varra, Varl-g Piri, Pintupi, Pitzhantzhatzhara, Ngaanyatzhara, Walmajari, Nyangumarda, Images- with Barndi, Murrinh-Patha, Tiwi, Gunvingu, Enindhilyagwa, etc. 1 ]
CHUKOTSK-KAMCHATKA FAMILY
Peoples: Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens.
In addition to the listed languages of the peoples of the world that are members of certain language families and groups, there are a number of languages that are not assigned to any families. These include Basque, Burishk, Ket, Nivkh, Ainu and some other languages.
