Language isolate

A language isolate is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other living languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common to any other language. Commonly cited examples include Basque, Ainu, Burushaski, and Korean, although in each case a minority of linguists claims to have demonstrated a relationship with another language (see Dene-Caucasian, Karasuk, and Altaic, for example).

Related Topics:
Natural language - Basque - Ainu - Burushaski - Korean - Dene-Caucasian - Karasuk - Altaic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A second use of the term understands "isolate" to be within a particular context. For instance, Albanian, Armenian, and Greek are considered isolates within Indo-European. While part of the Indo-European family, they have no demonstrable close genetic relationship with any particular languages, but instead form independent branches of their own. However, without such a disambiguating context, "isolate" is understood to be in the absolute sense of Basque.

Related Topics:
Albanian - Armenian - Greek

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some languages became isolates in historical times, after all their known relatives became extinct. The Pirahã language of Brazil is one such example, the last surviving member of the Mura family. Others, like Basque, have been isolates for as long as their existence has been documented.

Related Topics:
Pirahã language - Brazil - Mura

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Language isolates may be seen as a special case of unclassified languages, being languages which remain unclassified even after extensive efforts. If eventually such efforts do prove fruitful, a language previously considered an isolate may no longer be considered one; and since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language constitutes a true isolate or not.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~