Edward Sapir and the “Sino-Dene” Hypothesis

Abstract

The American scholar Edward Sapir proposed that the Na-Dene languages of North America (Haida, Tlingit, Eyak, Athabaskan) are genetically related to the Sino-Tibetan languages of Asia (Sinitic, Karenic, Tibeto-Burman). Sapir and other linguists have found correspondences between the phonetic systems, and more importantly, the grammar and basic vocabulary of both families. It is maintained here that Spair was essentially correct about this genetic connection (“Sino-Dene”), and that there is no evidence that he ever retracted it. Recent research corroborates Sapir's hypothesis and indicates the high probability of a widespread Dene-Caucasian family, which dispersed some 11,000 years ago. Some new linguistic evidence for this family is also presented here for the first time. © 1994, The Anthropological Society of Nippon. All rights reserved.