Longobardi, Giuseppe orcid.org/0000-0003-1819-5283, Barbujani, Guido, Guardiano, Cristina et al. (5 more authors) (2020) More rule than exception: parallel evidence of ancient migrations in grammars and genomes of Finno-Ugric speakers. Genes. 1491. ISSN 2073-4425
Abstract
To reconstruct aspects of human demographic history, linguistics and genetics complement each other, reciprocally suggesting testable hypotheses on population relationships and interactions. Relying on a linguistic comparative method based on syntactic data, here we focus on the non-straightforward relation of genes and languages among Finno-Ugric (FU) speakers, in comparison to their Indo-European (IE) and Altaic (AL) neighbors. Syntactic analysis, in agreement with the indications of more traditional linguistic levels, supports at least three distinct clusters, corresponding to these three Eurasian families; yet, the outliers of the FU group show linguistic convergence with their geographical neighbors. By analyzing genome-wide data in both ancient and contemporary populations, we uncovered remarkably matching patterns, with north-western FU speakers linguistically and genetically closer in parallel degrees to their IE-speaking neighbors, and eastern FU speakers to AL speakers. Therefore, our analysis indicates that plausible cross-family linguistic interference effects were accompanied, and possibly caused, by recognizable demographic processes. In particular, based on the comparison of modern and ancient genomes, our study identified the Pontic-Caspian steppes as the possible origin of the demographic processes that led to the expansion of FU languages into Europe.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 by the authors. |
Keywords: | genomes; syntax; genetic and linguistic distances; human migrations; phylogenies |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Language and Linguistic Science (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jan 2021 13:10 |
Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2025 00:11 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.3390/genes11121491 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/genes11121491 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:169629 |