Curt Doolittle

Theme: Ethnoculture

  • (FB 1552160069 Timestamp) Iranic The Iranian or Iranic languages[2][3] are a bra

    (FB 1552160069 Timestamp) Iranic The Iranian or Iranic languages[2][3] are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples. The Iranian languages are grouped in three stages: Old Iranian (until 400 BC), Middle Iranian (400 BC – 900 AD), and New Iranian (since 900 AD). The two directly attested Old Iranian languages are Old Persian (from the Achaemenid Empire) and Old Avestan (the language of the Avesta). Of the Middle Iranian languages, the better understood and recorded ones are Middle Persian (from the Sasanian Empire), Parthian (from the Parthian Empire), and Bactrian (from the Kushan and Hephthalite empires). As of 2008, there were an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of the Iranian languages.[4] Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 Iranian languages,[5][6] the largest among them being Persian, Pashto, and the Kurdish dialect continuum.[7] The term Iranian is applied to any language which descends from the ancestral Proto-Iranian language.[8] This use of the term for the Iranian language family was introduced in 1836 by Christian Lassen.[9] Robert Needham Cust used the term Irano-Aryan in 1878,[10] and Orientalists such as George Abraham Grierson and Max Müller contrasted Irano-Aryan (Iranian) and Indo-Aryan (Indic). Some recent scholarship, primarily in German, has revived this convention.[11][12][13][14] The Iranian languages are divided into the following branches: The Western Iranian languages subdivided into: Southwestern, of which Persian is the dominant member; Northwestern, of which the Kurdish languages are the dominant members. The Eastern Iranian languages subdivided into: Southeastern, of which Pashto is the dominant member; Northeastern, by far the smallest branch, of which Ossetian is the dominant member. Proto-Iranian Historical distribution in 100 BC: shown are Sarmatia, Scythia, Bactria (Eastern Iranian, in orange); and the Parthian Empire (Western Iranian, in red) The Iranian languages all descend from a common ancestor: the so-called Proto-Iranian which itself evolved from Proto-Indo-Iranian. This ancestor language is speculated to have origins in Central Asia, and the Andronovo Culture is suggested as a candidate for the common Indo-Iranian culture around 2000 BC. It was situated precisely in the western part of Central Asia that borders present-day Russia (and present-day Kazakhstan). It was in relative proximity to the other satem ethno-linguistic groups of the Indo-European family, like Thracian, Balto-Slavic and others, and to common Indo-European’s original homeland (more precisely, the steppes of southern Russia to the north of the Caucasus), according to the reconstructed linguistic relationships of common Indo-European. Proto-Iranian thus dates to some time after Proto-Indo-Iranian break-up, or the early second millennium BCE, as the Old Iranian languages began to break off and evolve separately as the various Iranian tribes migrated and settled in vast areas of southeastern Europe, the Iranian plateau, and Central Asia. Proto-Iranian innovations compared to Proto-Indo-Iranian include:[15] the turning of sibilant fricative *s into non-sibilant fricative glottal *h; the voiced aspirated plosives *bÊ°, *dÊ°, *gÊ° yielding to the voiced unaspirated plosives *b, *d, *g resp.; the voiceless unaspirated stops *p, *t, *k before another consonant changing into fricatives *f, *θ, *x resp.; voiceless aspirated stops *pÊ°, *tÊ°, *kÊ° turning into fricatives *f, *θ, *x, resp.

  • (FB 1552159139 Timestamp) Altaic languages Altaic is a hypothetical language fam

    (FB 1552159139 Timestamp) Altaic languages Altaic is a hypothetical language family of central Eurasia and Siberia first proposed in the 18th century, but whose existence is widely discredited among comparative linguists. The Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic groups are invariably included in the family; some authors added Koreanic and the Japonic languages. The latter expanded grouping came to be known as “Macro-Altaic”, leading to the designation of the smaller former grouping as “Micro-Altaic” by retronymy. Most proponents of Altaic continue to support the inclusion of Korean. These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from Eastern Europe through Anatolia and eastern Caucasus through North Asia and Central Asia to the Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago in East Asia. The group is named after the Altai mountain range in the center of Asia.

  • (FB 1552159139 Timestamp) Altaic languages Altaic is a hypothetical language fam

    (FB 1552159139 Timestamp) Altaic languages Altaic is a hypothetical language family of central Eurasia and Siberia first proposed in the 18th century, but whose existence is widely discredited among comparative linguists. The Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic groups are invariably included in the family; some authors added Koreanic and the Japonic languages. The latter expanded grouping came to be known as “Macro-Altaic”, leading to the designation of the smaller former grouping as “Micro-Altaic” by retronymy. Most proponents of Altaic continue to support the inclusion of Korean. These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from Eastern Europe through Anatolia and eastern Caucasus through North Asia and Central Asia to the Korean Peninsula and Japanese archipelago in East Asia. The group is named after the Altai mountain range in the center of Asia.

  • (FB 1552158788 Timestamp) ANOTHER TAKE ON THE IE EXPANSION Stage 1: “ORIGINATION

    (FB 1552158788 Timestamp) ANOTHER TAKE ON THE IE EXPANSION Stage 1: “ORIGINATION” Some pre-IE languages are also indicated:

    • Vasconic is tentatively associated here with Neolithic languages of Thessalian origin (my main working hypothesis). It would at the time be the largest European language family therefore.
      • Uralic should be right north of the early Indoeuropeans, what explains their ancestral Sprachbund.

      • Pelasgian indicates the language of Vinca-Dimini (Grey Ware), which was a limited intrusion c. 5000 BCE with origins related to Tell Halaf most likely.

    Stage 2: “EXPANSION” The main outline of the Indo-european expansion. Some other cultures and languages are indicated in gray colors for context. At this point we should have the seeds of: – Anatolian (Maykop) – Tocharian (Afanasevo, in Altai) – Indo-Iranian (Yamna) – Western Indo-european (Baalberge): a large subfamily that would give birth to Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Celtic and Italic. – Possible seeds of Tracian, Greek, etc. in the Balcanic Kurgans, an ill-defined group that would nevertheless plunder and radically alter the ethnic geography of the Eastern Balcans (see next map). Stage 3: “CONSOLIDATION” Some notes:

    • The Anatolian branch goes into Asia with the Kura-Araxes culture.

    • The Eastern Balcans are divided between two cultures:




        • Cotofeni, more purely Kurgan and a candidate for Greek origins


        • Ezero, rather Dniepr-Don (→ Sredny-Stog II) cultural inheritance. Surely proto-Thracians and hence a candidate for the origin of Armenian (via Phrygians).

    • Expansion of Yamna (proto-Indo-Iranians) and therefore liquidation of Dniepr-Don Neolithic

    • Consolidation and first expansion of the Western IE branch (Globular Amphorae). It may be important to note that in the Baalberge→→→Globular Amphorae period, this Kurgan culture experimented various influences that may be considered Vasconic: the Danubian substrate, the powerful southern Danubian culture of Baden and the Northernly Funnelbeaker influence, associated to Atlantic Megalithism.

    Stage 4: “COMPLETION” Setting the proto-historical scenario with some further expansions. Most notably:

    • Corded Ware: a major expansion of the Western IE group to the West, East and North.

    • Vucedol: probably associated with the previous, eradicates the Danubian culture in their homeland (only Foltesti in Moldavia would survive for some more time within this important Neolithic macro-culture). Vucedol would be another candidate for Greek origins for their use of the architectural concept of megaron.

    • Catacombs culture’s origins are debated but it’s clearly Kurgan in any case.

    • Poltavka represents continuity with the seed of the Kurgan/Indoeuropean phenomenon and its later evolution leads directly to Indo-Iranians.

    It should be noted that, synchronously with the Corded Ware expansion, the Megalithic bowmen of Artenac culture expanded from Dordogne, subsuming the last Western Danubian groups all the way to Belgium. This culture was probably proto-Aquitanian. A whole millennium of stability followed at the new Rhine border, crossed only by the likely traders of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. Source: http://forwhattheywereweare.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

  • (FB 1552158788 Timestamp) ANOTHER TAKE ON THE IE EXPANSION Stage 1: “ORIGINATION

    (FB 1552158788 Timestamp) ANOTHER TAKE ON THE IE EXPANSION Stage 1: “ORIGINATION” Some pre-IE languages are also indicated:

    • Vasconic is tentatively associated here with Neolithic languages of Thessalian origin (my main working hypothesis). It would at the time be the largest European language family therefore.
      • Uralic should be right north of the early Indoeuropeans, what explains their ancestral Sprachbund.

      • Pelasgian indicates the language of Vinca-Dimini (Grey Ware), which was a limited intrusion c. 5000 BCE with origins related to Tell Halaf most likely.

    Stage 2: “EXPANSION” The main outline of the Indo-european expansion. Some other cultures and languages are indicated in gray colors for context. At this point we should have the seeds of: – Anatolian (Maykop) – Tocharian (Afanasevo, in Altai) – Indo-Iranian (Yamna) – Western Indo-european (Baalberge): a large subfamily that would give birth to Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Celtic and Italic. – Possible seeds of Tracian, Greek, etc. in the Balcanic Kurgans, an ill-defined group that would nevertheless plunder and radically alter the ethnic geography of the Eastern Balcans (see next map). Stage 3: “CONSOLIDATION” Some notes:

    • The Anatolian branch goes into Asia with the Kura-Araxes culture.

    • The Eastern Balcans are divided between two cultures:




        • Cotofeni, more purely Kurgan and a candidate for Greek origins


        • Ezero, rather Dniepr-Don (→ Sredny-Stog II) cultural inheritance. Surely proto-Thracians and hence a candidate for the origin of Armenian (via Phrygians).

    • Expansion of Yamna (proto-Indo-Iranians) and therefore liquidation of Dniepr-Don Neolithic

    • Consolidation and first expansion of the Western IE branch (Globular Amphorae). It may be important to note that in the Baalberge→→→Globular Amphorae period, this Kurgan culture experimented various influences that may be considered Vasconic: the Danubian substrate, the powerful southern Danubian culture of Baden and the Northernly Funnelbeaker influence, associated to Atlantic Megalithism.

    Stage 4: “COMPLETION” Setting the proto-historical scenario with some further expansions. Most notably:

    • Corded Ware: a major expansion of the Western IE group to the West, East and North.

    • Vucedol: probably associated with the previous, eradicates the Danubian culture in their homeland (only Foltesti in Moldavia would survive for some more time within this important Neolithic macro-culture). Vucedol would be another candidate for Greek origins for their use of the architectural concept of megaron.

    • Catacombs culture’s origins are debated but it’s clearly Kurgan in any case.

    • Poltavka represents continuity with the seed of the Kurgan/Indoeuropean phenomenon and its later evolution leads directly to Indo-Iranians.

    It should be noted that, synchronously with the Corded Ware expansion, the Megalithic bowmen of Artenac culture expanded from Dordogne, subsuming the last Western Danubian groups all the way to Belgium. This culture was probably proto-Aquitanian. A whole millennium of stability followed at the new Rhine border, crossed only by the likely traders of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. Source: http://forwhattheywereweare.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

  • Curt Doolittle updated his status.

    (FB 1552582128 Timestamp) i love russians. idiot playing music too loud in the apartment building. girl knocks on door. asks politely. idiot talks smack. man comes from behind girl. beats idiot for ten minutes to within an inch of his life. All the while lecturing him on his behavior. stops. then hangs around until idiot recovers. this is paternalism. This is what we have lost. Paternalism. Responsibility.

  • Curt Doolittle shared a link.

    (FB 1552688934 Timestamp) —“The saxon showed his hate.”—JWarren Prescott

  • Curt Doolittle updated his status.

    (FB 1552688457 Timestamp) “In Wars of Genes, You don’t change hearts; You stop them from beating.” (Doolittle’s 42nd Law of War)

  • Curt Doolittle shared a link.

    (FB 1552688934 Timestamp) —“The saxon showed his hate.”—JWarren Prescott

  • Curt Doolittle updated his status.

    (FB 1552688457 Timestamp) “In Wars of Genes, You don’t change hearts; You stop them from beating.” (Doolittle’s 42nd Law of War)