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Pseudoscientific language comparison
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<h2 id="political-or-religious-implications">Political or religious implications</h2> <p>Sometimes, languages are associated for political or religious reasons, despite a lack of support from accepted methods of <a href="/facts/Scientific_method/182j8RWE">science</a> or <a href="/facts/Historical_linguistics/nj5y6HDR">historical linguistics</a>. For example, it was argued by Niclas Wahlgren that <a href="/facts/Herman_Lundborg/Aoza5PVz">Herman Lundborg</a> encouraged that the posited <a href="/facts/Ural-Altaic_languages/hIKPCYSP">Ural-Altaic</a> or <a href="/facts/Turanian_languages/hGRpXK3A">Turanian</a>, language family, which seeks to relate <a href="/facts/Sami_languages/A5pnbf3y">Sami</a> to the <a href="/facts/Mongolian_language/0Lxog7Md">Mongolian language</a>, was used to justify <a href="/facts/Sweden/u3qC7lyj">Swedish</a> <a href="/facts/Discrimination_against_the_Sami_people/cJ9QesTc">racism towards the Sami people</a> in particular.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> (There are also strong, albeit <a href="/facts/Areal_feature/Qk3QT5oq">areal</a> not <a href="/facts/Language_family/IpJv9o5S">genetic</a>, similarities between the <a href="/facts/Uralic_languages/4K0r9XRI">Uralic</a> and <a href="/facts/Altaic_languages/H2SHcyP8">Altaic</a> languages, which provide a more benign but nonetheless incorrect basis for this theory.)[<i>relevant?</i>] </p><p>Some believers in <a href="/facts/Abrahamic_religions/y9z2Wf9q">Abrahamic religions</a> have sought to derive their native languages from <a href="/facts/Classical_Hebrew/yCJ3bh30">Classical Hebrew</a>. For example, <a href="/facts/Herbert_W._Armstrong/74oarFm4">Herbert W. Armstrong</a>, a proponent of <a href="/facts/British_Israelism/RqAcA0R0">British Israelism</a>, claimed that the word 'British' comes from Hebrew בְּרִית <i>brit</i> [bʁit] 'covenant' and אּישׁ <i>ʾiš</i> [iʃ] 'man', as supposed proof that the British people are the 'covenant people' of God. Pre-modern scholars of the <a href="/facts/Hebrew_Bible/y8yblF9f">Hebrew Bible</a>, debating the <a href="/facts/Adamic_language/mLzsP6ju">language spoken by Adam and Eve</a>, often relied on belief in the literal truth of <a href="/facts/Book_of_Genesis/uFEgtYrb">Genesis</a> and of the accuracy of the names transcribed therein. On the other hand, <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">Renaissance</a> scholars <a href="/facts/Johannes_Goropius_Becanus/9oJXCv2v">Johannes Goropius Becanus</a> (1519–1572) and <a href="/facts/Simon_Stevin/Nb7y9QvD">Simon Stevin</a> argued that the Adamic language had been a dialect of their own native language, <a href="/facts/Dutch_(language)/yIB5lbsx">Dutch</a>. </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Sun_Language_Theory/m2nrKa9k">Sun Language Theory</a>, positing a proto-<a href="/facts/Turkic_language/RXqsmfgh">Turkic language</a> as the ancestor of all human languages, was motivated by <a href="/facts/Turkish_nationalism/6ypWsy3k">Turkish nationalism</a>. </p><p>The Israeli-American linguist <a href="/facts/Paul_Wexler_(linguist)/EeolLsU3">Paul Wexler</a> is known for his <a href="/facts/Fringe_theories/GHD6g8h9">fringe theories</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> about the origin of <a href="/facts/Jewish_population/pjjK3KRd">Jewish populations</a> and <a href="/facts/Jewish_languages/FoTS8ysP">Jewish languages</a>: </p> <ul><li>that most <a href="/facts/Ashkenazi_Jews/B9PIYy71">Ashkenazi Jews</a> are of <a href="/facts/Turkic_peoples/ocd7rpI3">Turkic</a> origin, and that their language, <a href="/facts/Yiddish/VfmsR6pW">Yiddish</a>, ultimately comes from <a href="/facts/Judaeo-Slavic/4aJwFu1a">Judaeo-Slavic</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li>that most <a href="/facts/Sephardi_Jews/VrvPsCeh">Sephardi Jews</a> are of <a href="/facts/Berbers/kuN9pFNf">Berber</a> origin, as is their language, <a href="/facts/Ladino_language/agC0XUvz">Ladino</a></li></ul> <p>In the mid-1900s, The <a href="/facts/Lithuania/dApVjLWW">Lithuanian</a>–American <a href="/facts/Archaeologist/K3Q5P38R">archaeologist</a> <a href="/facts/Marija_Gimbutas/ltT2brqS">Marija Gimbutas</a> argued that Basque is clearly related to the extinct <a href="/facts/Pictish_language/PM5zpEkM">Pictish</a> and Etruscan languages, even though at least the comparison had earlier been rejected within a decade of being proposed in 1892 by <a href="/facts/Sir_John_Rhys/YMNxJbkF">Sir John Rhys</a>. She wanted to show Basque was a remnant of an "<a href="/facts/Old_European_culture/dLTenXg5">Old European culture</a>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="traits-and-characteristics">Traits and characteristics</h2> <p>There is no universal way to spot pseudoscientific language comparisons. Indeed, such comparisons may not fit into one single category. However, the following characteristics tend to be more common among pseudoscientific theories (and the people who support them) than among scientific ones: </p> <ul><li>Failure to apply an accepted, or at least systematic, method to show regular correspondences between the languages. Unsystematic comparisons are effectively unfalsifiable.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>Failure to present grammatical evidence for relatedness: claims are based exclusively on word comparisons, even though in comparative linguistics grammatical evidence is also needed to confirm relatedness.</li> <li>Arbitrary segmentation of compared forms: comparisons are based on the similarity of only a part of the words compared (usually the first syllable), while the rest of the word is ignored.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>Disregard for the effects of <a href="/facts/Morphology_(linguistics)/fWkzsYE8">morphology</a> on word structure: uninflected <a href="/facts/Root_(linguistics)/VwkvmJxn">root</a> forms may be compared with fully inflected forms, or <a href="/facts/Markedness/vofcEvg6">marked</a> forms may be used in preference to lesser- or unmarked forms.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li>Not thinking about borrowing and <a href="/facts/Areal_feature/Qk3QT5oq">areal features</a>. Neighboring languages may share much vocabulary and many grammatical features due to <a href="/facts/Language_contact/xU290Qnk">language contact</a>. To really know whether the similarities result from contact or from relatedness, we need to use the <a href="/facts/Comparative_method/VKJAa3zy">comparative method</a> adequately.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>Relying on typological similarities between languages: the <a href="/facts/Morphological_typology/gavCl3IV">morphological type</a> of the language is claimed to provide evidence for relatedness, but in comparative linguistics only material parallels are accepted as evidence of a historical connection.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li>Neglect of known history: present-day forms of words are used in comparisons, neglecting either the attested or the <a href="/facts/Linguistic_reconstruction/pj96pL59">reconstructed</a> history of the language in question, or words of varying time depths (such as current, archaic, and reconstructed words) and reliability of reconstruction are used interchangeably.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a></li> <li>Advocation of geographically far-fetched connections, such as comparing <a href="/facts/Finnish_language/lBuEIgs0">Finnish</a> (in <a href="/facts/Finland/G5Ak6T91">Finland</a>) to <a href="/facts/Quechua_languages/XuYYuTkJ">Quechua</a> (in <a href="/facts/Peru/dBt7XrYD">Peru</a>), or <a href="/facts/Basque_language/rEMpH97p">Basque</a> (in <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a> and <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a>) to <a href="/facts/Ainu_language/CsYQnHv0">Ainu</a> (in <a href="/facts/Japan/U5mz0SRT">Japan</a>), or <a href="/facts/Castilian_Spanish/wwtnFwk9">Castilian</a> (in Spain) to <a href="/facts/Japanese_language/EEv485a5">Japanese</a> (in Japan). This criterion is only suggestive, though, as a long distance does not exclude the possibility of a relationship: <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a> is demonstrably related to <a href="/facts/Hindi/n1QIEeCC">Hindi</a> (in <a href="/facts/India/1kKHcnxM">India</a>), and <a href="/facts/Hawaiian_language/SsQuMKm9">Hawaiian</a> to <a href="/facts/Malagasy_language/KefIavD1">Malagasy</a> (on <a href="/facts/Madagascar/ez12IAcY">Madagascar</a>).</li> <li>Advocacy of fanciful narratives based on the purported linguistic findings, e.g. claims of unknown civilizations or ancient people traveling across oceans.</li></ul> <p>Proponents of pseudoscientific language comparisons also tend to share <a href="/facts/Crank_(person)/mLooUedG">some common characteristics</a> with <a href="/facts/Crank_(person)/mLooUedG">cranks</a> in other fields of science: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Dunning-Kruger_effect/buqbtVeF">Overestimation of their own knowledge or competence</a> in one or more of the languages under comparison, or their historical development, and underestimation of experts' knowledge. For example, assigning of incorrect meanings to words or sentences, quoting of rare or even fake <a href="/facts/Lexeme/CtHGorv4">lexemes</a>, morphs or meanings or of obscure dialect forms, misinterpretation of what experts have written, or ignorance of important facts. When forms and meanings are simply compiled and quoted from dictionaries (or even only a single source), inaccuracies creep in very easily.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> Even linguistically trained native speakers may not be experts in their own language, its dialectology, and its history; and even professional linguists may not be experts in large numbers of diverse languages and families.[<i>original research?</i>]</li> <li>Claims that the purported remote linguistic relationship is clear. A distant relationship between languages is usually not obvious on a superficial examination, and can only be uncovered via a successful application of the <a href="/facts/Comparative_method/VKJAa3zy">comparative method</a>.</li> <li>Failure to submit results to <a href="/facts/Peer_review/ly6yEgcW">peer reviewed</a> linguistic journals.</li> <li>Assertion that people who criticize the theory are just stuck in old ways, have ideological motivations, or are part of a secret plan by the language experts.</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Alternative_theories_of_Hungarian_language_origins/JlXSYX5T">Alternative theories of Hungarian language origins</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bongo-Bongo_(linguistics)/55Mr7EDr">Bongo-Bongo (linguistics)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cal-Ugrian_theory/mxEpMl9M">Cal-Ugrian theory</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/False_cognate/Sa1VAEVK">False cognate</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/False_etymology/cpr2AGUK">False etymology</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Folk_linguistics/NgUvUzdt">Folk linguistics</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Lumpers_and_splitters/PGAvGs8P">Lumpers and splitters</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Mythical_origins_of_language/tsQp4vW1">Mythical origins of language</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Proto-World/bDQxE2cA">Proto-World</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <ul><li>Campbell, Lyle (1998). <i>Historical Linguistics: An Introduction</i>. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-262-53159-7.</li> <li>Trask, R. L. (1996). <i>Historical Linguistics</i>. London: Arnold. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-340-60758-9.</li> <li>Hock, Hans Henrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1996). <i>Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics</i>. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-3-11-014784-1.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.zompist.com/chance.htm">How likely are chance resemblances between languages?</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.zompist.com/proto.html">Deriving Proto-World with tools you probably have at home</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Thomason, Sarah; Poser, William (2020). "Fantastic Linguistics". Annual Review of Linguistics. 6 (1): 457–468. doi:10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011619-030459. S2CID 243674477. Fringe and crackpot claims about language display the standard pseudoscientific characteristics discussed many years ago by Martin Gardner (1957) and by numerous observers since then, such as Michael Shermer (2011) <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Wahlgren, Niclas. "Något om rastänkandet i Sverige" [Something about racial thinking in Sweden] (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110615133919/http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d95-nwa/rasII.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110615133919/http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d95-nwa/rasII.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Kaplan, Rose (26 April 2016). "Study Claims Yiddish Originated in Turkey". Tablet. <a href="http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/200977/study-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey" target="_blank">http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/200977/study-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Kutzix, Jordan (28 April 2016). "Don't Buy the Junk Science That Says Yiddish Originated in Turkey". The Forward. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2016. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221030165312/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/study-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20221030165312/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/study-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Bolozky, Shmuel (1994). "On the Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew". In Stone, Russell A.; Zenner, Walter P. (eds.). Critical Essays on Israeli Social Issues and Scholarship. Vol. 3. SUNY Press. pp. 63–87. ISBN 978-0-7914-1959-5. Review of Wexler, Paul (1990). Borg, A.; Somekh, S.; Wexler, P. (eds.). The Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew: A Slavic Language in Search of a Semitic Past. Mediterranean Language and Culture Monograph Series. Vol. 4. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. <a href="978-0-7914-1959-5" target="_blank">978-0-7914-1959-5</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Wexler, Paul (1991). "Yiddish—the fifteenth Slavic language. A study of partial language shift from Judeo-Sorbian to German". International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 1991 (91): 9–150. doi:10.1515/ijsl.1991.91.9. S2CID 146835332. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>See Gimbutas, Marija (12 January 2001). The Living Goddesses. University of California Press. pp. 122, 171–175. ISBN 0-520-22915-0. <a href="0-520-22915-0" target="_blank">0-520-22915-0</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Trask 1996, p. 395. - Trask, R. L. (1996). Historical Linguistics. London: Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-60758-9. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Campbell 1998, p. 322. - Campbell, Lyle (1998). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53159-7. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Campbell 1998, pp. 323–324. - Campbell, Lyle (1998). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53159-7. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Hock & Joseph 1996, p. 460. - Hock, Hans Henrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1996). Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014784-1. <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Hock & Joseph 1996, pp. 462–464. - Hock, Hans Henrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1996). Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014784-1. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Hock & Joseph 1996, pp. 463–464. - Hock, Hans Henrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1996). Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-014784-1. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Campbell 1998, p. 325. - Campbell, Lyle (1998). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53159-7. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Trask 1996, p. 395. - Trask, R. L. (1996). Historical Linguistics. London: Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-60758-9. <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Campbell 1998, pp. 325–326. - Campbell, Lyle (1998). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53159-7. <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>