Introduction

Throughout this book, we have concentrated on methodological considerations which need to be taken into account in attempts to determine family relationships among languages, and we have looked at successful cases where it has been possible to demonstrate that languages are related and thus to establish different language families (Chapters 4, 5, and 7). In this chapter the goal is to examine several of the best-known hypotheses of long-range relationships, so-called “macro-families” – proposed distant genetic relationships where it has not yet proven possible to demonstrate convincingly the postulated relationship among the languages. These include Altaic, Ural-Altaic, Nostratic, Eurasiatic, Amerind, Na-Dene, proposed Dravidian external connections, and Indo-Pacific. (Some contested proposals in Africa, Australia, and the Americas were considered in Chapter 6, and Proto-World is considered in Chapter 12.) We concentrate here on methodological principles. Our intent in this chapter is to try to explain why these hypotheses of remote linguistic kinship remain in doubt and why most historical linguists do not accept them. These case studies should contribute to clarifying the methods and procedures employed in the investigation of distant genetic relationships and what it takes to support a case for linguistic kinship.