Alexander Akulov - Manual of comparative linguistics

2.2.5. An important consequence: transitivity of relatendness/unrelatedness

If we have proven unrelatedness of an x language belonging to X stock with y language that belongs to Y stock then, due to transitivity of unrelatedness, it means that x is not related with the whole Y stock.

Basing on comparison of lexis adepts of Nostratic hypothesis state that Indo-European stock, Kartvelian stock, Uralic stock and Turkic stock are relatives. Let’s see and test whether, for instance, Indo-European and Turkic stocks could be relatives.

PAI of Indo-European is about 0.5 (calculated after data represented in 2.1.4.2);

PAI of Turkic stock is about 0.012 (calculated after Yazyki mira. Tyurkskiye yazyki 1996).

Values of PAI differ more than tenfolds so these stocks evidently can’t be genetically related.

Having compared some randomly chosen lexemes, Patrie states that Ainu is a relative of Japanese and Korean and thus belongs to Altaic stock (Patrie 1982).

Whether Japanese and Korean are part of Altaic stock is still a discussed issue and even relationship of Japanese and Korean is still actually questionable. However, let’s accept Patrie’s proposition and let’s look at PAI of these languages.

PAI of Ainu is 0.75 (calculated after Tamura 2000);

PAI of Japanese is 0.13 (see 2.1.6);

PAI of Korean is 0.13 (calculated after Mazur 2004).

Values of PAI of Ainu and Japanese/Ainu and Korean differ sixfold.

In the case of Coptic language and Semitic group values of PAI differ fourfold and if there were no firm structural evidences relationship of Coptic language and Semitic group would be very problematic.

In the case of Ainu and Altaic stock serious difference of PAI values is obviously proof of absence of relatedness. Ainu and Korean, Ainu and Japanese are completely unrelated like, for instance, Spanish and Basque.

Moreover, we should keep in mind that Japanese and Korean have probably the highest values of PAI among languages of Altai stock so if we compare Ainu with some “true” languages of Altaic stock the difference is much more striking.

And also the fact there is almost no structural correlation between Ainu and Japanese and between Ainu and Korean corroborates conclusion made with the use of PAI.

Japanese and Korean seem to be closer relatives than it has been thought usually, since their PAI values completely coincide (see 2.3.2). And this fact correlates well with their structural and material correlation.

Anyway after discovering closeness of PAI values proximity of grammar systems should be shown.

The question of Japanese and Korean relationship is considered in (5.2).

Mudrak believes that such languages as: Ainu, Nivkh, Chukchi-Koryak, Itelmen and Eskimo-Aleut are genetically related (Mudrak 2013).

2.3.4.1. Whether Ainu and Nivkh could be relatives

According to Mudrak Ainu and Nivkh not just belong to that hypothetical stock but belong to same group inside the stock (pic. 4).

Pic. 4. Scheme representing genetic relationships of “Paleosiberian stock” languages accordingto Mudrak (source: [битая ссылка] http://polit.ru/article/2013/04/22/ps_mudrak_linguistics/ – accessed December 2015)

PAI of Nivkh is 0.07 (calculated after Gruzdeva 1997);

PAI of Ainu is 0.75.

Values differ more than tenfold.

Also grammars of Ainu and grammar of Nivkh show serious differences.

Hypothesis of Nivkh and Ainu relationship is same as for instance hypothesis of common ancestor of Estonian and Latvian spoken out by Nivkh or Ainu scientists (if Nivkh or Ainu would have scientists and European languages would be “indigenous languages”). It’s completely naïve and it’s based only on very perfunctory impression of some cultural similarities of Sakhalin Nivkh and Sakhalin Ainu.

2.3.4.2. Whether Ainu and Eskimo-Aleut could be relatives?

PAI of Aleut group and its relatives is zero (Golovko 1997: 115; Menovschikov 1997: 77). PAI of Ainu is 0.75. We have seen some well assembled groups and stocks and know how values of PAI can differ if languages really form a stock. As far as our current math, that we use to count values of PAI and estimate correlation of PAI values, doesn’t know division by zero so we can ascribe to the PAI of Aleut an obviously absurd value (for instance: 0.000001) in order to show the utmost absurdity of any attempts to represent Ainu and Aleut as languages belonging to the same stock.

Pic. 5. Diagram representing PAI values of languages that don’t form stocks.

2.3.4.3. Against term “Paleosiberian”

The term “Paleosiberian languages” was invented to designate isolated languages of Siberia and Far East; it doesn’t mean a hypothetical stock but it is just a set of genetically unrelated languages assembled by their geographic location. Now it would be better to avoid use of this term as far as it doesn’t help to analyse and discover but just inspires development of megalocomparative obscurantism.

It would be better to use term “isolated languages and stocks of Siberia and Far East” rather than to explain every time true meaning of term “Paleosiberian” since it looks much alike name of stock, it looks too mystic and/or intriguing for random amaterish people could properly understand its meaning.

2.3.5.1. Ainu and Austronesian

Murayama believed that Ainu could be a distant relative of Austronesian (Murayama 1993).

Despite naïve lexicostatistic approach the idea potentially can be rather realistic since PAI of Ainu is 0.75 and PAI of Austronesian stock is about 0.6.

2.3.5.2. Ainu and Mon-Khmer

Vovin tried to show that Ainu was a distant relative of Austroasiatic (Vovin 1993). As well as in the case of Murayama the idea isn’t completely off base since PAI of Khmer is 0.66 that correlates well with that of Ainu. However, I am to note that such researches in the field of linguistics should be correlated with data of other sciences.

Any hypothesis about relationship of certain languages should be correlated with correspondent contexts and with data of other related sciences: physical anthropology, population genetics, cultural anthropology and archaeology: if a certain date has been set as an approximate time of existence of a Proto-Ainu then how words of contemporary Ainu can be found in preceding epochs? Also if certain ethnic group is thought to have influenced Ainu language then this group hardly could influence rice cultivating terminology (Nonno 2015: 44).

1. PAI is something alike safety valve of comparative linguistics: if its values don’t differ more than fourfold then there is absolutely no obstacles for further research about genetic relationship; if values differ fourfold and more then should be found absolutely ferroconcrete proves of genetic relationship; if values differ sevenfold – tenfold or even more then those languages belong to different stocks.

It is possible to say that PAI shows direction in which looking for potential relatives of certain language can be perspectives.

2. PAI can be helpful method in those areas where are many isolated languages/stocks: in North America, in Papua and in Africa.

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Also nobody actually cares that sometimes certain lexemes can look alike just by coincidence: the shorter certain lexeme is the more is probability that it can look alike some random lexemes of other languages.

Megalocomparison is term invented by J. Matisoff (Matisoff 1990) specially to denote attempts to prove distant genetic relationship basing on comparison of lexis, i.e.: attempts to prove genetic relationship of certain languages in Greenberg style of so called “mass comparison”.

Buyeo stock is still a hypothetical stock that includes Japanese, Korean and Okinawan languages (Buyeo stock is discussed in chapter 5.2)

In this text I intentially use term stock instead of term family that is used in such context usually; languages are not self-replicating systems like biological systems, so I think any biological analogies should be avoided.

Waikuri is an extinct language that existed in Southern part of Baja California. Hokan stock is a hypothetical stock of a dozen small language families that were spoken mainly in California, Arizona and Baja California (pic. 1).

Due to “completely isolated” position among languages of the world Ainu is especially attractive material for perfunctory and amateurish hypotheses.

This type of linear model of word form is named “American type” since it has been described mainly on the material of Native American languages (especially of North America)

This type of linear model of word form is named “Altaiс type” since this linear model has been described mainly on the material of languages of so called Altaic stock.

PAN means Proto-Austronesian; “^” is sign of grammar/structure correlation