Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes
Abstract
The goal of a preliminary paleolinguistic research was to identify the roots in diverse Eurasian proto-languages directly related to grain legumes and producing the words denoting the same in modern Eurasian languages. Six Proto-Indo-European roots were attested, namely arnk(')- (a leguminous plant’), *bhabh- (‘field bean’), *erag’/h/- (’a kernel of leguminous plant’, ‘pea’), ghArs- (a leguminous plant’), *kek- (‘pea’) and *lent- (‘lentil’). So far, no Proto-Uralic or Proto-Kartvelian roots have been identified, except for the hypothetical Proto-Uralic *kača (‘pea’). On the other hand, there are two Proto-Altaic roots, *bukrV (‘pea’) and *zjabsa (‘lentil’). The Proto-Caucasian roots *qor'a, denoting pea, and *howl(a), denoting bean and lentil, and the Proto-Basque root *itha-r (’pea’, ‘bean’, ‘vetch’) may originate from a common Proto-Sino-Caucasian *hVwlV, denoting bean, within the hypothetic Dené-Caucasian language superfamily. The Modern Maltese preserved the memory of two Proto-Sem...itic roots, *‘adaš- (‘lentil’) and *pul- (‘field bean’), while the third originally Proto-Afroasiatic root related to grain legumes is *mang-, denoting both millet and lentil. The origin of the Old Chinese word *shok, originally denoting grain and seed and later beginning to denote soybean, is in the Proto-Sino-Caucasian root *sfHwekE ( ~ -k-), meaning ‘chaff’. The presented evidence demonstrates that the most ancient Eurasian grain legume crops were well-known and widely grown by the ancestors of all modern European nations. The attested lexicological continuum confirms the existence of the millennia-long bonds among the peoples of Eurasia to the mutual benefit. This research will hopefully encourage future interdisciplinary and concerted actions between plant scientist dealing with crop evolution and biodiversity, archaeobotanists and paleolinguists.
Keywords:
paleolinguistics / crop history / grain legumes / Europe / archaeobotany / proto-languages / Eurasia / Proto-Indo-European / rootsSource:
Book of Abstracts, 1st Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey, 9-11 May 2013, Novi Sad, 2013, 32-32Publisher:
- International Legume Society
- Novi Sad : Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops
Funding / projects:
- Increasing the market significance of forage crops by breeding and optimizing seed production technology (RS-MESTD-Technological Development (TD or TR)-31024)
Collections
Institution/Community
FiVeRTY - CONF AU - Mikić, Aleksandar PY - 2013 UR - http://fiver.ifvcns.rs/handle/123456789/2987 AB - The goal of a preliminary paleolinguistic research was to identify the roots in diverse Eurasian proto-languages directly related to grain legumes and producing the words denoting the same in modern Eurasian languages. Six Proto-Indo-European roots were attested, namely arnk(')- (a leguminous plant’), *bhabh- (‘field bean’), *erag’/h/- (’a kernel of leguminous plant’, ‘pea’), ghArs- (a leguminous plant’), *kek- (‘pea’) and *lent- (‘lentil’). So far, no Proto-Uralic or Proto-Kartvelian roots have been identified, except for the hypothetical Proto-Uralic *kača (‘pea’). On the other hand, there are two Proto-Altaic roots, *bukrV (‘pea’) and *zjabsa (‘lentil’). The Proto-Caucasian roots *qor'a, denoting pea, and *howl(a), denoting bean and lentil, and the Proto-Basque root *itha-r (’pea’, ‘bean’, ‘vetch’) may originate from a common Proto-Sino-Caucasian *hVwlV, denoting bean, within the hypothetic Dené-Caucasian language superfamily. The Modern Maltese preserved the memory of two Proto-Semitic roots, *‘adaš- (‘lentil’) and *pul- (‘field bean’), while the third originally Proto-Afroasiatic root related to grain legumes is *mang-, denoting both millet and lentil. The origin of the Old Chinese word *shok, originally denoting grain and seed and later beginning to denote soybean, is in the Proto-Sino-Caucasian root *sfHwekE ( ~ -k-), meaning ‘chaff’. The presented evidence demonstrates that the most ancient Eurasian grain legume crops were well-known and widely grown by the ancestors of all modern European nations. The attested lexicological continuum confirms the existence of the millennia-long bonds among the peoples of Eurasia to the mutual benefit. This research will hopefully encourage future interdisciplinary and concerted actions between plant scientist dealing with crop evolution and biodiversity, archaeobotanists and paleolinguists. PB - International Legume Society PB - Novi Sad : Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops C3 - Book of Abstracts, 1st Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey, 9-11 May 2013, Novi Sad T1 - Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes EP - 32 SP - 32 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_fiver_2987 ER -
@conference{ author = "Mikić, Aleksandar", year = "2013", abstract = "The goal of a preliminary paleolinguistic research was to identify the roots in diverse Eurasian proto-languages directly related to grain legumes and producing the words denoting the same in modern Eurasian languages. Six Proto-Indo-European roots were attested, namely arnk(')- (a leguminous plant’), *bhabh- (‘field bean’), *erag’/h/- (’a kernel of leguminous plant’, ‘pea’), ghArs- (a leguminous plant’), *kek- (‘pea’) and *lent- (‘lentil’). So far, no Proto-Uralic or Proto-Kartvelian roots have been identified, except for the hypothetical Proto-Uralic *kača (‘pea’). On the other hand, there are two Proto-Altaic roots, *bukrV (‘pea’) and *zjabsa (‘lentil’). The Proto-Caucasian roots *qor'a, denoting pea, and *howl(a), denoting bean and lentil, and the Proto-Basque root *itha-r (’pea’, ‘bean’, ‘vetch’) may originate from a common Proto-Sino-Caucasian *hVwlV, denoting bean, within the hypothetic Dené-Caucasian language superfamily. The Modern Maltese preserved the memory of two Proto-Semitic roots, *‘adaš- (‘lentil’) and *pul- (‘field bean’), while the third originally Proto-Afroasiatic root related to grain legumes is *mang-, denoting both millet and lentil. The origin of the Old Chinese word *shok, originally denoting grain and seed and later beginning to denote soybean, is in the Proto-Sino-Caucasian root *sfHwekE ( ~ -k-), meaning ‘chaff’. The presented evidence demonstrates that the most ancient Eurasian grain legume crops were well-known and widely grown by the ancestors of all modern European nations. The attested lexicological continuum confirms the existence of the millennia-long bonds among the peoples of Eurasia to the mutual benefit. This research will hopefully encourage future interdisciplinary and concerted actions between plant scientist dealing with crop evolution and biodiversity, archaeobotanists and paleolinguists.", publisher = "International Legume Society, Novi Sad : Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops", journal = "Book of Abstracts, 1st Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey, 9-11 May 2013, Novi Sad", title = "Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes", pages = "32-32", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_fiver_2987" }
Mikić, A.. (2013). Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes. in Book of Abstracts, 1st Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey, 9-11 May 2013, Novi Sad International Legume Society., 32-32. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_fiver_2987
Mikić A. Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes. in Book of Abstracts, 1st Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey, 9-11 May 2013, Novi Sad. 2013;:32-32. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_fiver_2987 .
Mikić, Aleksandar, "Paleolinguistics and crop history of ancient Eurasian grain legumes" in Book of Abstracts, 1st Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey, 9-11 May 2013, Novi Sad (2013):32-32, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_fiver_2987 .