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NOSTRATIC and ALTAIC ALEXANDER VOVIN Uпiversity О NOSTRATIC AND ALTAIC ALEXANDER VOVIN Uпiversity о/ Hawai'i at Мапоа, Hoпolulu Since the first volume of Шiсh-Svityсh's "Opyt sravneniia nostratichekikh iazykov [An attemptto compare Nostratic languages]" appeared in 1971, it has continuously Ьееn greeted with criticism (Clauson 1973, Andronov 1982, Serebrennikov 1982, Shcherbak 1984, Vine 1991). The only positive eva1uation of the Nostratic theory coming from outside of Nostratic сатр seems to belong to Manaster Ramer (1993, 1994). Despite the fact, demonstratedin the negative reviews, that тanу of the etymologies proposed Ьу Шiсh-Svitусh сan ье dismissed, the task of eva1uatingthe Nostratic theory in genera1remains largely unaccomplished (Manaster Ramer 1994:157). Тhe goa1 of this article is three-fold: first, 1 intend to demonstrate that Nostratic theory cannot ье dismissed out of hand Ьу а responsible historica1 linguist as something not being worthy further discussion; second, that much remains to ье done within the Nostratic macrofarnily, particularly in the area of assessment of its intema1 structure and classification, and third, as the title shows, 1intend to investigate whether Altaic should ье included in Nostratic or not. 1will investigate in this article the intепеlаtiоnshiрs of three members of the Nostratic farnily: Altaic, Indo-European,and Uralic. Тhe choice of Altaic is due to the fact that ту linguistic interests are connectedmostly with the Altaic farnily, especia11ywith its Eastern members: Japanese, Korean, and Manchu-Tungusic. Besides, 1 have some knowledge of Indo-European and more of Ura1ic. These three branches of Nostratic, as proposed Ьу Шich-Svitусh, cover the Northern area of Eurasia. Meanwhile, ту expertise in three "Southern" Nostratic branches: Afroasiatic, Kartvelian, and Dravidian is pretty much close to zero, and that naturally 100 те to limiting ту "base of operation" to the first three branches оnlу, with ту emphasis being оп interrelationshipbetween Nostratic and Altaic. 1 consider ту task to ье mainly the eva1uation of Vladislav М. Illich- Svitych's work, and not that of his followers. Therefore, only the first two 258 ALEXANDER VOVIN NOSТRAТIC AND ALTAIC 259 volumes of Шich-Svitусh's Nostratic dictionary (Шiсh-Svityсh 1971, 1976) are 3) PN **Ьurл 'snow/sand storm' > PIE *bher '[to] storm'; PU *рurkл taken into consideration, and the third volume, though it bears Шiсh-Svitусh's 'snowstorm'; РА *Ьоrа/*Ьurл 'storm', 'snowstorm' (Шiсh-Svitусh name оп the cover (Шiсh-Svityсh 1984), is left out since it is mostly compiled Ьу 1971:188-190). a.group of Moscow linguists under the direction of У. А. Dybo. 1 allowed 4) PN **skalu 'to split', 'to cut' > PIE *skel 'to split'; PU *sale 'to split', 'to myself, however, to introducesome rninorchanges, mostly in reconstructions of cut'; РА *calu 'to cut' (Шich-Svityсh 1971: 195-197).' Altaic materials, when it was necessary to correct Шiсh-Svitусh's rnisiakes, or to 5) PN **gi/i/Qu 'smooth and glimmering' > PIE *ghelhw-/*gblеhW- make other changes оп the basis of materials which were not available to him. 'glimmering'; PU *k1!i/л 'smooth and glimmering'; РА *gilu-/*gila- Thus, in particular, 1 have made in Nostratic reconstructions in several cases 'smooth and glimmering' (Шich-Svitусh 1971:229-230). some changes оп the basis of recent proposals Ьу Alexis Manaster Ramer 6) PN **gop'a 'empty', 'ho11ow' > PIE *geup- 'cavity', 'hole', 'pit'; PU (Manaster Ramer 1994). *koppa 'empty', 'ho11ow'; РА *goba-/*gobi- 'empty', 'hollow' (Шiсh- Тhere is certainly а number of individual problems conceming lower-level Svitych 1971:232-233). reconstructions. Thus, for example, though below 1preserved the reconstruction 7) PN **lа 'that over there' > PIE *he-n- 'over there'; PU *а- 'that over there'; of РА vocalism as presented Ьу Шiсh-Svityсh, 1 actually believe that it is not РА *а- 'that over there' (Шich-Svityсh 1971:257-258). valid any longer andeven actually can ье presented only in а tentative form. Тhe 8) PN **li-/**le- 'this' > PIE *fiei-/he- 'this'; PU *i-/*e- 'this'; РА *i-/*e- same, though to а lesser extent, can ье applied to PU vocalism, too. However, 1 'this' (Шich-Svitусh 1971:270-271). think that these particular problems should not prevent us from giving а 9) PN **kal'л 'to bark (а tree)', 'to skin' > PIE *gol- 'naked', 'bald'; PU preliтiпary estiтate of the validity of the Nostratic theory: when Indo-European *kal'л 'skin', 'naked', 'smooth'; РА *Kal2/i/- 'to skin', 'naked' (Шiсh- specialists discuss Indo-Europeanthey still can do it in spite of the fact that there Svitych 1971:289-290). are still particularunsettled problernsin Slavic or Germanic reconstruction. 10) PN **Kar'ii 'bark', 'shell' > PIE *ker 'bark', 'skin'; PU *kore/*kere Тhe fo11owing evaluation of the Nostratic farnily is based оп an ultra- 'bark'; РА *k'Er'ii 'bark' (Шiсh-Svitусh 1971:341-343). conservative аррroасЬ in phonology and semantics. Тhere are 353 Nostratic 11) PN **~rл 'frost' > PIE *Rer- 'frost', 'ice', 'frozen snow-crust'; PU *kirte, etymologies presented in Шiсh-Svityсh (1971) and Шiсh-Svityсh (1976). 1 have *kirл 'frozen snow-crust'; РА *k'irl(a) 'frost' (lllich-Svitych chosen among them only those which connect Indo-European, Uralic, and 1971:353-354). Altaic, or anу pair of those three branches. Afroasiatic, Kartvelian, and 12) PN **~o 'who' > PIE *kwo 'who'; PU *ko-/*ku- 'who'; РА *k'o-/*k'a- Dravidian parallels are not included into the fo11owing lists, even if they are stem of interrogative pronoun(Шich-Svityсh 1971:355-356). present in Шiсh-Svitусh's dictionary. 1 have excluded all suspicious parallels, 13) PN **lip'a 'sticky' > PIE *leip- 'to stick', 'sticky'; PU *Lipa 'slippery', and the most importantrequirement is that these etymologies have identical or 'sticky'; РА *lipa- 'to stick', 'sticky' (Шiсh-Svitусh 1976:18-20). alrnost identical semantics. 1 also excluded all cases when а word is attested in 14) PN **LaНrnlu/ 'swamp' > PIE *lehm 'swamp', 'puddle'; PU *Lampe only one language or dialect within а language farnily, even if such cases are 'swamp', 'lake'; РА *laamu 'sea', 'swamp' (Шiсh-Svitусh 1976:29-30). extremely likely proto-language forms. Needless to say, the phonetic 15) PN **тшjа 'berry' > PIE *mor- 'blackberry'; PU *шarjа 'berry'; РА correspondences among the chosen parallels are regular. *miirV 'berry' (Шiсh-Svityсh 1976:43-45). 16) PN **rni 'what' > PIE *то- stem of interrogative adverbs; PU *rni 'what'; Words соттоп to Indo-European, Uralic, and Altaic РА *тУ 'what' (Шiсh-Svityсh 1976:66-68). 1) PN **bok/a/- 'to run away' > PIE *bheug/*bhegw- 'id'; PU *pok-tV- 'to 17) PN **peIНi 'Ье afraid' > PIE *peIН- 'Ье afraid'; PU *pele- 'Ье afraid'; РА run'; РА *p[']Vk- 'run' (РМТ only, if РА aspirated, then uшеlаtеd) (Шiсh- *peeli - 'Ье afraid' (Шich-Svityсh 1976:98-99). Svitych 1971:181). I 2) PN **bura 'to drill' > PIE *bher- 'to 0011';PU *pura '[to] 0011'; РА *bura ' 'to tum' (РТ only) (Шich-Svityсh 1971:186-187). 1 Il1ich-Svitych originally reconstructed PN **calu here; 1 changed it to **skalu following recent proposal Ьу Alexis Manaster Ramer, who demonstrated that PIE clusters could not originate from PN affricates suggested Ьу Illich-Svitych (Manaster Ramer 1994). 260 ALEXANDER VOVIN NOSTRAnC AND ALTAIC 261 18) PN **р'ш'/а! 'to tear', 'to break', 'to split' > РIE *(s)per- 'to tear', 'to 15) PN **KиPsa 'to die oиt', 'to extingиish' > РIE *gWes- 'to die oиt'; PU break'; PU *рша 'to break'; РА *p'or2ti/*p'tir2ti 'to tear', 'to crush' (Шiсh- *kиpsa-/ *kopsa- 'to die oиt' (Шiсh-Svitусh 1971:311). Svitych 1976:100-101). 16) PN **~ap'a 'paw' > РIE *керН 'paw', 'hoof; PU *kappa 'paw' (Шiсh- 19) PN **~apl.la'to hit' > РIE *tep- 'to hit', 'to poиnd'; PU *tappa- 'to hit', 'to Svitych 1971:347). kick'; РА *t'api 'to hit', 'to forge', *t'api 'to kick' (Шich-Svityсh 17) PN **lф- 'to lick', 'to lар' > РIE *lak- 'to lick', 'to lар'; PU *lakka- 'to 1976:108-109). lick', 'to lар' (Шiсh-Svitусh 1976:15). .20) PN **wol(a) 'big' > РIE *wel 'big'; PU *wola 'many'; РА *оlа 18) PN **iejna 'soft', 'weak' > РIE *lei 'soft', 'weak'; PU *iejna 'weak' 'many' (Шich-Svitусh 1976: 109-111). (Шich-Svitусh 1976:26-27). 19) PN **iiwa 'dirt' >РIE *lеи(Н) 'dirt', 'silt'; PU *iiwa 'dirt', 'sand', Words соттоn to Indo-European and Uralic 'marsh' (Шiсh-Svitусh 1976:27). 1) PN **bara > РIE *bher- 'good'; PU *para 'good' (Illich-Svitych 1971:175). 20) PN **ion~a 'to Ьепд' > РIE *lenk 'to Ьепд'; PU *iol)ka 'to Ьепд' (Шich- 2) PN **bergiil 'high' > РIE *bhergh/*bhregh 'id.'; PU *p/e/r-kV- 'id.' Svitych 1976:27-28). (Saтoyedic оn1у)(Шich-Svityсh 1971:177). 21) PN **Lawsa 'not stretched', 'weak' > РIE *leиs 'not stretched', 'weak'; 3) PN **bиr'a 'to ЬоН', 'to seethe' > РIE *bhreи 'id.'; PU *pиra 'id.' (Шiсh- PU *Lawsa 'not stretched', 'weak' (Шich-Svitусh 1976:31-32). Svitych 1971: 190). 22) PN **manл 'тац', 'та1е' > РIE *mIo/n 'man'; PU *тanсе 'тап', 'person' 4) PN **~ajl,1a'glimmer' > РIE *sReih 'id.'; PU *saja 'id.' (Шiсh-Svityсh (Шich-Svitусh 1976:58-59). 1971:199-200). 23) PN **mоLл 'to break to pieces' > РIE *mel- 'to break to pieces', 'to grind'; 5) PN **skеlл 'to jиmp' > РIE *(s)Rel 'id.', PU *сеlл 'id.' (РА para11elis PU *moLa- 'to break', 'to break to pieces' (Шich-Svitусh 1976:69-70). dиbioиs) (Illich-Svitych 1971:203-204). 24) PN **mщ:л 'to wash' > РIE *mesg- 'to wash', 'to dive'; PU *mиske- 'to 6) PN **giф 'handlarm' > РIE *ghes- 'id.', PU *kate- 'id.' (Шiсh-Svitусh wash' (Шich-Svitусh 1976:71-72). 1971:227). 25) PN **nirni 'пате' > РIE *Нпбm 'id.'; PU *nimе 'id.' (Шich-Svityсh 7) PN **Henka 'to Ьиm' > РIE *Heng- 'to Ьиm', *HIJg-п-i 'fIre'; PU *еl)kл 1976:82-83).
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