Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin (russian: Серге́й Анато́льевич Ста́ростин; March 24, 1953 – September 30, 2005) was a Russian
historical linguist
Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:
# to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages
# ...
and
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, perhaps best known for his reconstructions of hypothetical
proto-language
In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unattest ...
s, including his work on the controversial
Altaic
Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are ...
theory, the formulation of the
Dené–Caucasian hypothesis, and the proposal of a
Borean language of still earlier date. He was also the author of a widely respected reconstruction of
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
.
Theories
In 1986, Starostin and
Igor M. Diakonoff suggested that the
Hurro-Urartian languages
The Hurro-Urartian languages are an extinct language, extinct language family of the Ancient Near East, comprising only two known languages: Hurrian language, Hurrian and Urartian language, Urartian.
Origins
It is often assumed that the Hurro-Ur ...
belong to the
Northeast Caucasian
The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Nakh-Daghestani or ''Vainakh-Daghestani'', is a family of languages spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia and in Northern Azerbaijan as well as in ...
language family. Starostin was also instrumental in the reconstruction of
Proto-Kiranti
The Kiranti languages are a major family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in Nepal and India (notably Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Kumai) by the Kirati people.
External relationships
George van Driem had formerly proposed that the Kira ...
,
Proto-Tibeto-Burman
Proto-Tibeto-Burman (commonly abbreviated PTB) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Tibeto-Burman languages, that is, the Sino-Tibetan languages, except for Chinese. An initial reconstruction was produced by Paul K. Benedict and since refined by ...
,
Proto-Yeniseian
Proto-Yeniseian is the reconstruction of the language from which all Yeniseian languages are descended from. It is uncertain whether Proto-Yeniseian had a similar tone/pitch accent system as Ket. Many studies about Proto-Yeniseian phonology have b ...
,
Proto-North-Caucasian, and
Proto-Altaic
The Proto-Altaic language is a hypothetical extinct language that has been proposed as the common ancestor of the disputed Altaic languages.
In the 18th century, some similarities between the Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic languages led to the ...
. He developed the hypothesis, originated by
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Khan in the 17th century, but really revived by
Gustaf John Ramstedt
Gustaf John Ramstedt (October 22, 1873 – November 25, 1950) was a Finnish diplomat, orientalist and linguist. He was also an early Finnish Esperantist, and chairman of the Esperanto-Association of Finland.
Biography
Ramstedt was born in Ekenä ...
in the early 20th century, that
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
is related to the
Turkic and
Mongolic languages through an "
Altaic
Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are ...
" family.
The
Dené–Caucasian hypothesis proposes that
Northwest Caucasian
The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called West Caucasian, Abkhazo-Adyghean, Abkhazo-Circassian, Circassic, or sometimes ''Pontic languages'' (from the historical region of Pontus, in contrast to ''Caspian languages'' for the Northeast Cauc ...
,
Northeast Caucasian
The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Nakh-Daghestani or ''Vainakh-Daghestani'', is a family of languages spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia and in Northern Azerbaijan as well as in ...
,
Yeniseian
The Yeniseian languages (sometimes known as Yeniseic or Yenisei-Ostyak;"Ostyak" is a concept of areal rather than genetic linguistics. In addition to the Yeniseian languages it also includes the Uralic languages Khanty and Selkup. occasionally ...
,
Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
, and
Na-Dené
Na-Dene (; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included, but is now considere ...
form a single, higher-order language family. According to Starostin, the Dené–Caucasian and
Austric
The Austric languages are a proposed language family that includes the Austronesian languages spoken in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Madagascar, as well as the Austroasiatic languages spoken in Mainland Southeast ...
macrofamilies, together with the
Nostratic
Nostratic is a controversial hypothetical macrofamily, which includes many of the indigenous language families of Eurasia, although its exact composition and structure vary among proponents. It typically comprises Kartvelian languages, Kartvelian ...
macrofamily (as envisaged by
Vladislav Illich-Svitych
Vladislav Markovich Illich-Svitych (russian: Владисла́в Ма́ркович И́ллич-Сви́тыч, also transliterated as Illič-Svityč; September 12, 1934 – August 22, 1966) was a Soviet linguist and accentologist. He was a fo ...
, with some modifications), can further be linked at an earlier stage, which Starostin called the
Borean (i.e. 'Northern') languages.
Evolution of Human Languages project
Since 1985, Starostin had been developing STARLING, a
database management system
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases span ...
designed for his website. He was assisted in his work by
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...
, a
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning physicist. At the time of his death, he was a
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
at the
Russian State University for the Humanities
The Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH, RGGU; russian: Росси́йский госуда́рственный гуманита́рный университе́т, РГГУ, translit=Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj gumanitarnyj universit ...
, a visiting professor at the
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, includ ...
, and a frequent guest lecturer at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, where he was awarded the degree of
doctor honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
in June 2005.
Starostin died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
on September 30, 2005 in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
after a lecture at the
Russian State University for the Humanities
The Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH, RGGU; russian: Росси́йский госуда́рственный гуманита́рный университе́т, РГГУ, translit=Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj gumanitarnyj universit ...
. His son,
Georgiy Starostin
Georgiy Sergeevich "George" Starostin (russian: Гео́ргий Серге́евич Ста́ростин; born 4 July 1976) is a Russian linguist. He is the son of the late historical linguist Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin (1953–2005), and his ...
, is also a linguist.
Selected works
* 1986. Co-authored with
Igor M. Diakonoff. ''Hurro-Urartian as an Eastern Caucasian Language.'' Munich: R. Kitzinger.
* 1991. ''Altajskaja problema i proisxoždenie japonskogo jazyka'', 'The Altaic Problem and the Origin of the Japanese Language'. Moscow: Nauka.
*1995. "The historical position of Bai".
''Moskovskij Lingvisticheskij Zhurnal'' 1, 174-190. Moscow.
* 2003. Co-authored with
Anna V. Dybo
Anna Vladimirovna Dybo (russian: Анна Владимировна Дыбо, born June 4, 1959) is a Russian linguist, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and co-author (with Sergei Starostin) of the '' Etymological Dictionary of the Altai ...
and Oleg A. Mudrak. ''An Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages'', 3 volumes. Leiden: Brill. .
* 2005. Co-authored with
Svetlana Burlak
Svetlana Burlak, russian: Светлана Анатольевна Бурлак) (born June 12, 1969) is a Russian linguist, an Indo-European languages scholar, as well as an author of works on comparative linguistics and on the genesis of human l ...
"Comparative linguistics". .
See also
*
Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics
The Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics (also called the Nostratic School) is a school of linguistics based in Moscow, Russia that is known for its work in . Formerly based at Moscow State University, it is currently centered at the (Institut ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
The Tower of Babel a large linguistics database built largely by Sergei and George Starostin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starostin, Sergei
1953 births
2005 deaths
20th-century linguists
Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Etruscan scholars
Historical linguists
Linguists from Russia
Linguists from the Soviet Union
Linguists of Altaic languages
Linguists of Borean languages
Linguists of Caucasian languages
Linguists of Dené–Caucasian languages
Linguists of Hurro-Urartian languages
Linguists of Na-Dene languages
Linguists of North Caucasian languages
Linguists of Nostratic languages
Linguists of Sino-Tibetan languages
Long-range comparative linguists
Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics
Moscow State University alumni
Paleolinguists
Russian State University for the Humanities faculty
People from Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe Institute people