Asya Pereltsvaig

A vigorously argued critique of the so-called Bayesian phylogenetic model of the origin, differentiation, and spread of the Indo-European languages, which was developed mainly by 'Gray and Atkinson' and published in Science magazine. The authors protest that many of the assumptions of the model are questionable, the time-line and dates come out completely at variance from facts known from other lines of evidence and reasoning, and that the whole approach of the Bayesian methods of constructing language rtrees is questionable. The authors recommend falling back on recognized sources from old documents, archaeology, history and the analyses of the languages that historical linguists have been doing for over two centuries. The authors find evidence for the Anatolian origin (i.e Asia Minor or present-day Turkey) as less compelling than the 'modified steppe hypothesis' that places the centre of origin in the Pontic area (between or north of the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea) that draws on considerable evidence from archaeological sites in the southern margins of Russia and Central Europe. The story is an absorbing and sometimes passionately contested one, especially in the Indian context, where the biggest question is whether the dominant Indian culture, Hindu, and the sacred language Sanskrit (and its daughter languages, the Indo-Aryan languages) are indigenous (autochthonous), or whether they were brought in along with the Indo-Aryan people themselves in some millenium BC.… (mer)

This is a very interesting book for a linguistic layperson. It gives an overview of the world's main (and some minor) language families, and has lots of examples to clarify the theory.

Some minor negative points:
- The information given in the lists of languages/language families (including numbers of speakers and geographical areas) could be more conveniently arranged in tables instead of being buried in the text.
- Occasionally grammatical errors pop up, which is a bit irritating, especially in a book about languages.

Despite these little flaws I still give it 5 stars, because I was captivated by what I read, and I'm sure this book will prompt me to learn more about the subject.… (mer)