Scientists believe the birthplace of Indo-European

An international team of linguists and biologists found that the birthplace of Indo-European languages ​​is Anatolia . The work is published in the journal Science, a brief description leads The New York Times.

Studies led by biologist Quentin Atkinson from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. For the analysis of Indo-European languages, scientists have used methods developed for studying the evolution of species. The researchers analyzed the vocabulary 103 Indo-European languages, and data on their geographical distribution and historical development.

Scientists looked at the so-called cognates - cognates having a common origin and a similar sound in two or more languages. Cognates are words usually the least exposed to changes in the evolution of languages .Comparing the number of cognates in different languages, the researchers were able to estimate the extent of their relationship, likening thus cognates genes and differences cognates mutations.

Next, the researchers used historical data on the estimated time of divergence of languages. For example, it is believed that the Romance languages ​​began to separate from the Latin in 270, when the Roman Emperor Aurelian led the colonists from the province of Dacia.

In addition, the researchers used information on the current geographical distribution of languages.

By combining all these data, researchers have proposed to build a computer evolutionary tree of Indo-European languages ​​on the basis of two hypotheses: the Anatolian and barrows. Comparing the resulting trees, the researchers found that Anatolian tree is the most likely in terms of statistics.

The reaction of colleagues to work group Atkinson was mixed. According to many scientists, the comparison of the linguistic evolution with biological inadmissible, as they have different mechanisms. Other researchers have found the use of biological methods is warranted, but criticized the group for what she did not check the consistency of the third hypothesis of the origin of Indo-European languages: Balkan.

Indo-European language family is the most common in the world: the language of this group say 2.5 billion people. There are two main hypotheses about the origin of Indo-European languages: barrows and Anatolian. According to the Kurgan hypothesis, the most popular among linguists and historians, the ancestral home of the Indo-European languages ​​from the Black Sea steppes. Alternative Anatolian and Balkan hypotheses suggest that carriers of Indo-European languages ​​settled, respectively, from Anatolia or the Balkans.