The Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR) dataset is a comprehensive, open-access relational database detailing cognates—inherited related words—across 160 Indo-European languages. Developed by a consortium of 89 linguists, it aims to serve as a benchmark for computational research into the evolution of this vast language family, encompassing 25,731 lexeme entries grouped into 4,981 cognate sets based on 170 core meanings. The dataset incorporates time calibration data, geographical/social metadata, and a novel structure for coding horizontal transfer, adhering to the Cross-Linguistic Data Format (CLDF) for interoperability and long-term accessibility. IE-CoR addresses limitations of previous datasets through improved coverage, rigorous coding protocols, and a focus on the primary cognate state of root morphemes, offering a valuable resource for phylogenetic and quantitative linguistic research.
A pair of landmark studies has identified the originators of the Indo-European family of languages in current-day Russia about 6,500 years ago, the Caucasus Lower Volga people.
>“We can see there was a small group of villages 5,700 to 5,300 years ago with just a couple thousand breeding individuals,” Reich said. “And then there was a demographic explosion, with these people going everywhere.”
>“We can see there was a small group of villages 5,700 to 5,300 years ago with just a couple thousand breeding individuals,” Reich said. “And then there was a demographic explosion, with these people going everywhere.”
This article details how recent advancements in ancient DNA (aDNA) research are challenging long-held beliefs in archaeology and potentially rehabilitating a previously discredited historical model. For much of the 20th century, archaeological interpretations favored gradual cultural shifts driven by trade and intermingling, downplaying the role of large-scale migrations and distinct ethnic groups. This was partly a reaction against the work of Gustaf Kossinna, a 19th/20th-century archaeologist whose “culture-history” model – linking archaeological cultures directly to specific peoples and their movements – became tainted by association with Nazi ideology.
However, the aDNA revolution, beginning in the late 2000s, has revealed a more dynamic and often disruptive picture of prehistory. Genetic analysis confirms that significant population movements did occur, particularly with the spread of Indo-European languages across Europe and into India. This supports Kossinna’s core idea that cultural changes often accompanied the movement of peoples, though it doesn’t endorse his problematic racial theories.
However, the aDNA revolution, beginning in the late 2000s, has revealed a more dynamic and often disruptive picture of prehistory. Genetic analysis confirms that significant population movements did occur, particularly with the spread of Indo-European languages across Europe and into India. This supports Kossinna’s core idea that cultural changes often accompanied the movement of peoples, though it doesn’t endorse his problematic racial theories.
A collection of 23 maps and charts illustrating various aspects of language, including origins, distribution, diversity, and evolution, with a focus on English and global patterns.
A pair of landmark studies published in Nature have identified the origin of the Indo-European family of over 400 languages, spoken by more than 40% of the world's population, to the Caucasus Lower Volga people in present-day Russia around 6,500 years ago.
Harvard researchers traced the origins of the vast Indo-European language family to the Caucasus-Lower Volga region, identifying the ancestral population known as the Yamnaya, who appeared around 3300 BCE and spread from Hungary to western China.
Excavations in Turkey have revealed a previously unknown Anatolian-Indo-European language, Kalašma, dating back around 3,000 years. The language is similar to Luwian and has been deciphered by researchers from the University of Worzburg and Istanbul University.
