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Germanic Origins from the Perspective of the Y-Chromosome

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Germanic Origins from the Perspective of the Y-Chromosome Germanic Origins from the Perspective of the Y-Chromosome By Michael Robert St. Clair A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in German in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Irmengard Rauch, Chair Thomas F. Shannon Montgomery Slatkin Spring 2012 Abstract Germanic Origins from the Perspective of the Y-Chromosome by Michael Robert St. Clair Doctor of Philosophy in German University of California, Berkeley Irmengard Rauch, Chair This dissertation holds that genetic data are a useful tool for evaluating contemporary models of Germanic origins. The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and include among their major contemporary representatives English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic. Historically, the search for Germanic origins has sought to determine where the Germanic languages evolved, and why the Germanic languages are similar to and different from other European languages. Both archaeological and linguist approaches have been employed in this research direction. The linguistic approach to Germanic origins is split among those who favor the Stammbaum theory and those favoring language contact theory. Stammbaum theory posits that Proto-Germanic separated from an ancestral Indo-European parent language. This theoretical approach accounts for similarities between Germanic and other Indo- European languages by posting a period of mutual development. Germanic innovations, on the other hand, occurred in isolation after separation from the parent language. Language contact theory posits that Proto-Germanic was the product of language convergence and this convergence explains features that Germanic shares with other Indo-European languages. Germanic innovations, on the other hand, are potentially a relic of an era before language convergence. Contemporary models of Germanic origins have gravitated towards language contact theory to explain the position of Germanic within the European linguistic tapestry. However, this theoretical approach is very dependent on the historical record for assessing the influence of language convergence. This dissertation utilizes genetic data, primarily single nucleotide polymorphism from the human Y-chromosome, for overcoming this inherent weakness of language contact theory. With genetic data, the linguist can now assess the influence of prehistoric language convergence by tracing prehistoric population expansions. Based on the available genetic data, the evolution of Germanic during the European prehistory may have been shaped by the convergence of Proto-Basque, Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Afroasiatic, and perhaps to a lesser extent, Proto-Uralic. 1 DEDICATION Dedicated to Dr. David Rood, a great man and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. i Table of Contents Chapter One: Dissertation Overview ……………………………...………………………..…1 Chapter Two: Germanic Origins: Issues and Approaches …………………………………...2 2.1 Typology ……………………………………………………………………….....2 2.2 The Origins of Indo-European Languages …….………………………………….5 2.3 Germanic Origins from the Perspective of Linguistics …………………………...7 2.3.1 Comparative Method and Stammbaum Theory …………………………..8 2.3.2 Language Contact Theory ……………………………………………….10 2.4 Germanic Origins from the Perspective of Archaeology ………………………..12 2.5 The “Kossinna Syndrome” ……………………………………………………...14 2.6 Germanic Origins from the Perspective of the Y-Chromosome ………………...17 2.7 Chapter Conclusion ……………………………………………………………...19 Chapter Three: Why the Y? The Y-Chromosome as a Tool for Understanding Prehistoric Migration ….……………………………………………………………………………………20 3.1 Playing by-the-rules …………………………………………………………….20 3.2 Mutation ……………………………………………………………………...…21 3.2.1 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms …………………………….………..22 3.2.2 Short Tandem Repeats ………………………………….……………....24 3.3 Population History ………………………...…………………………………....24 3.4 Other Molecular Markers ……………………………...………………………...26 3.5 Chapter Conclusion ……………………………………………………………...28 Chapter Four: Y-Chromosome Haplogroups R, I, N, E, J and G. Population Expansions in the Paleo-, Meso-, and Neolithic …...………………………………………………………….29 4.1 Haplogroup R ……………………………………………………………………32 4.1.1 The Western European R-Group ………………………………………..32 ii 4.1.2 The Eastern European R-Group …………………………………………34 4.2 Haplogroup I ……………………………………………….……………………35 4.2.1 Scandinavian I-Group …………………………………………………...35 4.2.2 Balkan I-Group ………………………………………………………….36 4.2.3 Sardinian I-Group ……………………………………………………….36 4.2.4 Central European I-Group ……………………………………………….37 4.3 Finno-Baltic N-Group …...……………………………………………………....37 4.4 European E-Group ……...……………………………………………………....38 4.5 Near Eastern J-Group …...……………………………………………………….41 4.6 Caucasus G-Group ……………………………………………………………....44 4.7 Chapter Conclusion ……………………………………………………………...45 Chapter Five: The Correlation Between Linguistic and Genetic Diversity: A Survey of Population Studies ……….…………………………………………………………………….47 5.1 Africa …………………………………………………………………………....47 5.2 The Role of Gender in Mediating Language Shift ……..……………………......49 5.3 Afroasiatic ……………………………...……………………………………......49 5.4 Indo-European Languages …..…………………………………………………..49 5.5 Hungarian …………………………………….………………………………….51 5.6 Slavic and Uralic …..………………………………………………………….....52 5.7 The Basques …………….……………………………………………………….54 5.8 Tocharian …………………………………………………………….……….…55 5.9 The Kalmyk ………….………………………………………………………….56 5.10 The Gagauz………………….…………………………………………………...56 5.11 The Bakhtiari …………………………………………………………………....57 5.12 Language Shift in Great Britain and Ireland …………………………………….57 5.13 Language Shift in the Caucasus Region ………...………………………………59 iii 5.14 Topography as an Explanation of Linguistic and Genetic Diversity …………....60 5.15 Chapter Conclusion ………………………………………………………….…..60 Chapter Six: Evaluating Contemporary Models of Germanic Origins ………..…………...62 6.1 Wiik‟s Uralic Substratum Model ………………………………………………………..64 6.2 Anthony‟s Kurgan Model ……………………………………………………………….67 6.3 Renfrew‟s Language-Farming Model ……………………………………………...……69 6.4 Vennemann‟s Language Convergence Model ………………………………………..…71 6.5 Chapter Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………...73 Chapter Seven: Dissertation Conclusion ………….………………………………………….74 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………...….76 Appendices …………………………………………………………………………………….101 iv List of Figures Figure 2.1 Indo-European ………………………………………………………………….....2 Figure 2.2 Germanic ……………………………………………………………………….…4 Figure 2.3 Schleicher‟s Stammbaum …………………………………………………………7 Figure 2.4 Ertebølle Settlements 5000 BC ……………………………………………….…14 Figure 3.1 The Structure of DNA …………………………………………………………...23 Figure 3.2 Out of Africa – The Story of Human Migration as Shown by Genetic Variation ………………………………………………………………………...26 Figure 4.1 An Overview of Haplogroups that Define the European Prehistory .……...……31 Figure 4.2 The Evolutionary History of Haplogroup E …...………………………………..39 Figure 4.3 The Evolutionary History of Haplogroup J .…………………………….……....43 Figure 6.1 Overview of Vennemann‟s Language Convergence Model …………….………71 v List of Tables Table 2.1 Germanic Cognates and Turkish ………………………………………………….9 Table 2.2 „Female Friend‟ in Spanish, Portuguese, Sardinian and French …………….……9 Table 2.3 Nomenclature for Haplogroup I Sub-Clades ……………………………………18 Table 6.1 Summary of Y-chromosome Data for Denmark ……………………………..….63 Table 6.2 Germanic and Finnic Cognates ……………………………………………….…67 Appendix Table 1: Western European R-Group ………………………………...………….101 Appendix Table 2: Eastern European R-Group ………………...………………………..…113 Appendix Table 3: Scandinavian I-Group …………………...……………………………..125 Appendix Table 4: Balkan I-Group …………………………………………...……………130 Appendix Table 5: Sardinian I Group ……………………………………...……………….134 Appendix Table 6: Central European I-Group ……………………………………...………137 Appendix Table 7: Finno-Baltic N-Group …………………………..………...……………141 Appendix Table 8: European E-Group ………………………………………………..……148 Appendix Table 9: Near Eastern J-Group ……………………………………………...…...153 Appendix Table 10: J2a-M410 and J2b-M12/M102 ………………………….……………..162 Appendix Table 11: Caucasus G-Group ………………………………………….………….164 vi Acknowledgements Thanks to those who have provided grants and fellowships: the Max Kade Foundation, the Institute of European Studies (University of California at Berkeley), the Department of German (University of California at Berkeley), and the Graduate Division (University of California at Berkeley). Thanks to those who have provided employment: the Department of German (University of California at Berkeley), the University Library (University of California at Berkeley), and the Department of History (University of California at Berkeley. I wish to acknowledge the members of my dissertation committee: Professors Irmengard Rauch, Thomas Shannon and Montgomery Slatkin. A special thanks to James Spohrer, Curator of the Germanic collection. This project would not have been possible without the support of Alexandra, my wife. Finally, a special thanks to the members of my church. vii Chapter One Dissertation Overview My task in this dissertation is to demonstrate that genetic data are a useful tool for evaluating contemporary models of Germanic origins. To the best of my knowledge, this dissertation represents one of the first attempts by a linguist to utilize genetic data for exploring how the Germanic language family evolved during the European prehistory. This approach to examining Germanic origins reflects that the use
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