Language Atlas
Claims this atlas currently marks as unsettled or as tested and found false. A debated fact is one scholars hold competing positions on; a debunked one has been checked against the record and found not to hold. Both are kept in view rather than quietly smoothed over, with the reasoning that put each one where it stands.
124 statements.
Bodish languages, Proto-Language StatusIt has not been demonstrated that the languages grouped under Bodish form a single clade with shared innovations within Sino-Tibetan; the grouping remains proposed rather than established.
Bodish languages, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States It has not been demonstrated that the languages grouped under Bodish form a single clade with shared innovations within Sino-Tibetan; the grouping remains proposed rather than established.
Source Wikipedia: Bodish Languages
Borean, RegionEurasia, sometimes the Americas
Borean, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Region
Currently States Eurasia, sometimes the Americas
Source Borean languages (Wikipedia)
Borean, Proto-Language StatusHypothetical; Starostin tentatively dates Proto-Borean to about 16 thousand years ago
Borean, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Hypothetical; Starostin tentatively dates Proto-Borean to about 16 thousand years ago
Source Borean languages (Wikipedia)
Bulaka River, Proto-Language StatusRoss (2005) tentatively placed Bulaka River in a proposed Trans-Fly-Bulaka River family; the link is not universally accepted. Usher, who has worked on reconstructing the family, treats Bulaka River as an independent primary language family with no established outside connection.
Bulaka River, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Ross (2005) tentatively placed Bulaka River in a proposed Trans-Fly-Bulaka River family; the link is not universally accepted. Usher, who has worked on reconstructing the family, treats Bulaka River as an independent primary language family with no established outside connection.
Ross (2005) proposed a Trans-Fly-Bulaka River grouping; Usher treats Bulaka River as an independent primary family with no established outside connection.
Source Wikipedia: Bulaka River languages
Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, Proto-Language StatusProposed group; validity disputed, no established proto-language
Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Proposed group; validity disputed, no established proto-language
Proposed branch; some scholars, including Donohue and Grimes (2008), reject it as a valid clade.
Source Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, Wikipedia
Chiquitano, Proto-Language StatusUsually treated as a language isolate, though Greenberg linked it to Macro-Je (later questioned on methodological grounds), Kaufman groups it in his unsubstantiated Macro-Je cluster with a possible Bororoan link, Adelaar (2008) classifies it as Macro-Je outright, Nikulin (2020) treats it as a sister of Macro-Je, and Nikulin (2023) reclassifies it as a branch within Macro-Je.
Chiquitano, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Usually treated as a language isolate, though Greenberg linked it to Macro-Je (later questioned on methodological grounds), Kaufman groups it in his unsubstantiated Macro-Je cluster with a possible Bororoan link, Adelaar (2008) classifies it as Macro-Je outright, Nikulin (2020) treats it as a sister of Macro-Je, and Nikulin (2023) reclassifies it as a branch within Macro-Je.
Source Wikipedia: Chiquitano Languages
Common Turkic, Proto-Language StatusCommon Turkic (also called Shaz Turkic) is not an independently named reconstructed proto-language but a proposed genetic subgroup within Turkic comprising every branch except the earlier-diverging Oghuric languages.
Common Turkic, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Common Turkic (also called Shaz Turkic) is not an independently named reconstructed proto-language but a proposed genetic subgroup within Turkic comprising every branch except the earlier-diverging Oghuric languages.
Common Turkic has no separately named reconstructed proto-language of its own; it is a proposed classificatory subgroup, not a settled clade distinct from ordinary Turkic.
Source Wikipedia: Common Turkic languages
Continental Celtic, Proto-Language StatusContinental Celtic is an entirely extinct grouping of the ancient Celtic languages (Gaulish, Hispano-Celtic, Lepontic, Noric and Galatian) defined mainly by geography rather than strict linguistic descent. It has no separately reconstructed proto-language of its own.
Continental Celtic, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Continental Celtic is an entirely extinct grouping of the ancient Celtic languages (Gaulish, Hispano-Celtic, Lepontic, Noric and Galatian) defined mainly by geography rather than strict linguistic descent. It has no separately reconstructed proto-language of its own.
Continental Celtic is defined geographically rather than by a shared reconstructed proto-language of its own; its status as a genetic clade, as opposed to the competing Insular Celtic classification, is debated among specialists.
Source Wikipedia: Continental Celtic languages
Darwin Region, Proto-Language StatusNo proto-language has been reconstructed or published. Darwin Region is itself a proposed family, linguist Mark Harvey uniting the Limilngan languages with two additional language isolates, not yet a demonstrated genetic unit.
Darwin Region, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States No proto-language has been reconstructed or published. Darwin Region is itself a proposed family, linguist Mark Harvey uniting the Limilngan languages with two additional language isolates, not yet a demonstrated genetic unit.
Source Wikipedia: Darwin Region Languages
Demta-Sentani, Proto-Language StatusNo proto-Demta-Sentani language has been reconstructed. Pawley and Hammarstrom (2018) note lexical resemblances between the Sentani languages and proto-Trans-New Guinea but do not treat Demta-Sentani as a Trans-New Guinea branch.
Demta-Sentani, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States No proto-Demta-Sentani language has been reconstructed. Pawley and Hammarstrom (2018) note lexical resemblances between the Sentani languages and proto-Trans-New Guinea but do not treat Demta-Sentani as a Trans-New Guinea branch.
Pawley and Hammarstrom (2018) classify Sentani as its own separate language family rather than as part of Trans-New Guinea, despite the noted lexical resemblances.
Source Wikipedia: Demta-Sentani languages
Dene-Yeniseian, Proto-Language StatusProto-Dene-Yeniseian proposed by Edward Vajda in 2008 from reconstructions of Proto-Yeniseian and Proto-Na-Dene; not universally accepted
Dene-Yeniseian, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Proto-Dene-Yeniseian proposed by Edward Vajda in 2008 from reconstructions of Proto-Yeniseian and Proto-Na-Dene; not universally accepted
Source Dene-Yeniseian languages, Wikipedia
Dogon, Proto-Language StatusExternal affiliation to Niger-Congo is unresolved: Dogon lacks the noun-class system typical of that family and shows very few lexical cognates, leading Roger Blench to conclude it likely diverged very early, if it is related at all.
Dogon, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States External affiliation to Niger-Congo is unresolved: Dogon lacks the noun-class system typical of that family and shows very few lexical cognates, leading Roger Blench to conclude it likely diverged very early, if it is related at all.
Source Wikipedia: Dogon languages
East Germanic, Proto-Language StatusEast Germanic is known through the directly attested Gothic language plus isolated word lists and short phrases for Vandalic, Burgundian and Crimean Gothic. A distinct Proto-East-Germanic stage is not separately named in general use, and inclusion of Burgundian in the branch has itself been questioned by some linguists.
East Germanic, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States East Germanic is known through the directly attested Gothic language plus isolated word lists and short phrases for Vandalic, Burgundian and Crimean Gothic. A distinct Proto-East-Germanic stage is not separately named in general use, and inclusion of Burgundian in the branch has itself been questioned by some linguists.
Gothic is the only East Germanic language with substantial texts; Vandalic, Burgundian and Crimean Gothic survive only as isolated words or short phrases, and inclusion of Burgundian in the branch has itself been questioned.
Source Wikipedia: East Germanic languages
Eastern Algonquian, Proto-Language StatusProto-Eastern Algonquian (PEA) is a hypothesized common ancestor proto-language for the group, though some scholars question its validity as a genetic subgroup
Eastern Algonquian, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Proto-Eastern Algonquian (PEA) is a hypothesized common ancestor proto-language for the group, though some scholars question its validity as a genetic subgroup
Source Eastern Algonquian languages - Wikipedia
Eastern Sudanic languages, Proto-Language StatusUnity of the family is debated
Eastern Sudanic languages, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Unity of the family is debated
Some classifications treat Eastern Sudanic as a possible branch of Nilo-Saharan while Gueldemann (2018, 2022) finds it undemonstrated.
Source Eastern Sudanic languages, Wikipedia
Elamo-Dravidian, Proto-Language StatusHypothesized family only; no established proto-language
Elamo-Dravidian, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Hypothesized family only; no established proto-language
Source Elamo-Dravidian languages (Wikipedia)
English-based Creole, Proto-Language StatusEnglish-based creoles do not descend from a single reconstructed proto-language in the ordinary family-tree sense; the monogenesis hypothesis proposes one ancestral proto-Pidgin English along the West African coast in the early sixteenth century as ancestral to most Atlantic English-based creoles, an account contested by polygenesis alternatives.
English-based Creole, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States English-based creoles do not descend from a single reconstructed proto-language in the ordinary family-tree sense; the monogenesis hypothesis proposes one ancestral proto-Pidgin English along the West African coast in the early sixteenth century as ancestral to most Atlantic English-based creoles, an account contested by polygenesis alternatives.
Source English-based creole languages (Wikipedia)
Finno-Ugric languages, Proto-Language StatusProto-Finno-Ugric reconstruction attempted but largely indistinguishable from Proto-Uralic
Finno-Ugric languages, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Proto-Language Status
Currently States Proto-Finno-Ugric reconstruction attempted but largely indistinguishable from Proto-Uralic
Source Finno-Ugric languages - Wikipedia
Georgian Script, In Use Since (Year)430
Georgian Script, Scripts
Standing
Concerns In Use Since (Year)
Currently States 430
Bracketed between King Mirian III's conversion of Iberia (326 or 337) and the Bir el Qutt inscriptions of 430, the latest secure attestation used here; the exact date within that century-long window is not settled.
Source Wikipedia: Georgian Scripts
Graeco-Phrygian languages, RegionSouthern Balkans, Anatolia and Cyprus
Graeco-Phrygian languages, Language Families
Standing
Concerns Region
Currently States Southern Balkans, Anatolia and Cyprus
Graeco-Phrygian is a proposed subgroup; the region reflects the Greek and Phrygian areas.
Source Graeco-Phrygian, Wikipedia