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: Martine Robbeets, Christian Leipe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Quaternary Environments and Humans
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000155
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author Martine Robbeets
Christian Leipe
author_facet Martine Robbeets
Christian Leipe
author_sort Martine Robbeets
collection DOAJ
description 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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series Quaternary Environments and Humans
spelling doaj-art-78ce4e8b60c44f08b0c9a2d4889202042025-08-20T02:37:01ZengElsevierQuaternary Environments and Humans2950-23652025-06-013210007110.1016/j.qeh.2025.100071Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languagesMartine Robbeets0Christian Leipe1Language and the Anthropocene Research Group Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, Jena 07745, Germany; Corresponding author.Paleontology Section, Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74–100, Building D, Berlin 12249, German; Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Independent Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, Jena 07745, Germany; Physical Geography, Institute of Geography, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Löbdergraben 32, Jena 07743, Germany; Corresponding author at: Paleontology Section, Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74–100, Building D, Berlin 12249, Germany.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.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000155Human-environment interactionLanguage dispersalClimate changeEarly agricultureTranseurasian languages
spellingShingle Martine Robbeets
Christian Leipe
Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
Quaternary Environments and Humans
Human-environment interaction
Language dispersal
Climate change
Early agriculture
Transeurasian languages
title Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
title_full Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
title_fullStr Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
title_full_unstemmed Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
title_short Climate change and the spread of the Transeurasian languages
title_sort climate change and the spread of the transeurasian languages
topic Human-environment interaction
Language dispersal
Climate change
Early agriculture
Transeurasian languages
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000155
work_keys_str_mv AT martinerobbeets climatechangeandthespreadofthetranseurasianlanguages
AT christianleipe climatechangeandthespreadofthetranseurasianlanguages