Читать книгу Manual of comparative linguistics - Alexander Akulov - Страница 14

2. Prefixation Ability Index (PAI) allows us to see whether two languages can potentially be genetically related
2.3.4. PAI against Mudrak’s hypotheses

Оглавление

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.

Manual of comparative linguistics

Подняться наверх