Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Semitic languages identifies an Early Bronze Age origin of Semitic in the Near East

Andrew Kitchen; Christopher Ehret; Shiferaw Assefa; Connie J Mulligan

doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0408

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Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Semitic languages identifies an Early Bronze Age origin of Semitic in the Near East

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Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Semitic languages identifies an Early Bronze Age origin of Semitic in the Near East

Andrew Kitchen, Christopher Ehret, Shiferaw Assefa and Connie J Mulligan

Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences, Vol.276(1668), pp.2703-2710

08/07/2009

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0408

PMCID: PMC2839953

PMID: 19403539

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Abstract

The evolution of languages provides a unique opportunity to study human population history. The origin of Semitic and the nature of dispersals by Semitic-speaking populations are of great importance to our understanding of the ancient history of the Middle East and Horn of Africa. Semitic populations are associated with the oldest written languages and urban civilizations in the region, which gave rise to some of the world's first major religious and literary traditions. In this study, we employ Bayesian computational phylogenetic techniques recently developed in evolutionary biology to analyse Semitic lexical data by modelling language evolution and explicitly testing alternative hypotheses of Semitic history. We implement a relaxed linguistic clock to date language divergences and use epigraphic evidence for the sampling dates of extinct Semitic languages to calibrate the rate of language evolution. Our statistical tests of alternative Semitic histories support an initial divergence of Akkadian from ancestral Semitic over competing hypotheses (e.g. an African origin of Semitic). We estimate an Early Bronze Age origin for Semitic approximately 5750 years ago in the Levant, and further propose that contemporary Ethiosemitic languages of Africa reflect a single introduction of early Ethiosemitic from southern Arabia approximately 2800 years ago.

History, Ancient

Middle East - ethnology

Emigration and Immigration - history

Literature

Language

Humans

Bayes Theorem

Religion

Details

Title: Subtitle: Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Semitic languages identifies an Early Bronze Age origin of Semitic in the Near East
Creators: Andrew Kitchen - Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, , Gainesville, FL 32610-3610, USA. aak11@psu.edu
Christopher Ehret
Shiferaw Assefa
Connie J Mulligan
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences, Vol.276(1668), pp.2703-2710
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0408
PMID: 19403539
PMCID: PMC2839953
NLM abbreviation: Proc Biol Sci
ISSN: 0962-8452
eISSN: 1471-2954
Publisher: England
Language: English
Date published: 08/07/2009
Academic Unit: Anthropology; International Programs
Record Identifier: 9983983645602771

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