Proto-Semitic as a second language Glen Gordon
http://paleoglot.blogspot.com/2008/03/proto-semitic-as-second-language.html
I will start with the claim that Proto-Semitic originated from the Syria-Palestine area[1], rather than from Southern Arabia as has been so often claimed. Then, considering the well-known fact that Neolithic innovations originated from Western Asia and only later spread into Europe, I'm going to suggest that Proto-Semitic speakers were not only people with agricultural know-how, but that their language became a vibrant trading language well beyond their immediate area. What I'm suggesting is that multilingualism was not only common during the Neolithic but even vital for communities and their material well-being. I don't know why I didn't clue in before, but if Proto-Semitic speakers were ahead of everyone in terms of technology, naturally their language too might become a hot commodity. And if knowing that language was in demand for trade, then it follows that there were large areas surrounding the immediate Proto-Semitic language area where people would have adopted Proto-Semitic as a second language! Think about it now. Around 5500 BCE, speakers of "Mid Indo-European" (MIE), ancestral to later Proto-Indo-European (PIE), might have been situated further into the Balkans to take advantage of goods coming in from the south, perhaps along the coastline, and these people would have been at least semi-fluent in Proto-Semitic in order to communicate with the incoming traders. (I mean, how else could they likely communicate with each other other than becoming bilingual?) The Syria-Palestine area was afterall a center for agriculture and we know that there are words in Proto-Semitic relating to agriculture as the American Heritage Dictionary explains in detail: "There are many Proto-Semitic terms referring to agriculture, which was a significant source of livelihood.
I will start with the claim that Proto-Semitic originated from the Syria-Palestine area[1], rather than from Southern Arabia as has been so often claimed. Then, considering the well-known fact that Neolithic innovations originated from Western Asia and only later spread into Europe, I'm going to suggest that Proto-Semitic speakers were not only people with agricultural know-how, but that their language became a vibrant trading language well beyond their immediate area. What I'm suggesting is that multilingualism was not only common during the Neolithic but even vital for communities and their material well-being. I don't know why I didn't clue in before, but if Proto-Semitic speakers were ahead of everyone in terms of technology, naturally their language too might become a hot commodity. And if knowing that language was in demand for trade, then it follows that there were large areas surrounding the immediate Proto-Semitic language area where people would have adopted Proto-Semitic as a second language! Think about it now. Around 5500 BCE, speakers of "Mid Indo-European" (MIE), ancestral to later Proto-Indo-European (PIE), might have been situated further into the Balkans to take advantage of goods coming in from the south, perhaps along the coastline, and these people would have been at least semi-fluent in Proto-Semitic in order to communicate with the incoming traders. (I mean, how else could they likely communicate with each other other than becoming bilingual?) The Syria-Palestine area was afterall a center for agriculture and we know that there are words in Proto-Semitic relating to agriculture as the American Heritage Dictionary explains in detail: "There are many Proto-Semitic terms referring to agriculture, which was a significant source of livelihood.
The Proto-Indo-Europeans and Their Early Descendants: Proto-Languages and Homelands
A very ancient branch of IE also split off around this time. Known as Balkan or Paleo-Balkan, it may also have split off 6000 YBP. There were two major branches, Thracian and Illyro-Venetic. Thracian is extinct, and all that remains of Illyro-Venetic is Albanian, a very ancient IE tongue that is only distantly related to the rest of IE. Proto-Illyrian and Thracian split around 4200 YBP.
At this time, it is thought that the people who later became Celts, Italics, Greeks and Albanians were the Illyrian peoples. They were driven out of northern Germany by pre-Germanic tribes 3800 YBP. So Celts, Italics, Greeks and Albanians all seem to share common genetic roots.
This is the probable base from which the Romans emerged – a Celto-Greco-Italo-Albanian people. Here is a map of the Illyrian tribes before the Roman conquest. It is from this milieu that the Albanians emerged. The Albanian language is quite strange within IE and seems to have very ancient roots dating back to Proto-Paleo-Balkan from 6000 YBP.
Another very early split you can see in the chart is something called Indo-Irano-Armeno-Hellenic. The Armeno-Hellenic branch probably split off 6000 YBP. The fact that Armenians and Greeks today still possibly retain a PIE appearance is also suggested by this early split. Only the Greek languages and Armenian remain of this family, as most of the family is extinct.
Proto-Hellenic may have split off around 5000 YBP, and Proto-Armenian may have split around 4500 YBP. The proto-Hellenics seem to have been related to the Indo-Iranians. This may be why a number of North Indians look like Greeks, Turks or Armenians.
Armenian and Hellenic are also strange IE branches that are only distantly related to the rest of IE.
The Italo-Celtic branch broke off as early as 5000 YBP. Proto-Celtic split about 2800 YBP; the homeland is in Northern Austria. The Hallstatt Culture is associated with them. The Proto-Italics are dated to around 3500 YBP in Italy. Before that, the Italo-Celtic Homeland is thought to have been in southern and central Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
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