Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
The term “Transeurasian” refers to a proposed language family stretching across Europe and northern Asia, which includes five well-established branches: Japonic, Koreanic, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic. The complex range of interacting factors that drove the spread of these languages from their home...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000155 |
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| Summary: | The term “Transeurasian” refers to a proposed language family stretching across Europe and northern Asia, which includes five well-established branches: Japonic, Koreanic, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic. The complex range of interacting factors that drove the spread of these languages from their homeland in Northeast Asia to their present-day locations is yet to be understood. Here, we investigate the potential impacts of climate change on the spread of the Transeurasian languages across mid-latitude East Asia during the Holocene, beginning from the initial break-up of the Transeurasian language family about 9200 years ago. Comparison of palaeoclimate records and linguistic developments demonstrates that global- to regional-scale climate trends may have been factors that promoted the spread of these languages. |
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| ISSN: | 2950-2365 |