The time and place of origin of South Caucasian languages: insights into past human societies, ecosystems and human population genetics.

ABSTRACT: This study re-examines the linguistic phylogeny of the South Caucasian linguistic family (aka the Kartvelian linguistic family) and attempts to identify its Urheimat. We apply Bayesian phylogenetics to infer a dated phylogeny of the South Caucasian languages. We infer the Urheimat and the reasons for the split of the Kartvelian languages by taking into consideration (1) the past distribution ranges of wildlife elements whose names can be traced back to proto-Kartvelian roots, (2) the distribution ranges of past cultures and (3) the genetic variations of past and extant human populations. Our best-fit Bayesian phylogenetic model is in agreement with the widely accepted topology suggested by previous studies. However, in contrast to these studies, our model suggests earlier mean split dates,

SUBMITTER: Gavashelishvili A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10689496 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature