2 ms·

This theory is complete nonsense, right? I mean far be it from me to cast aspersions on a BBC Travel writer, but if there were actual real linguistic connection

This theory is complete nonsense, right? I mean far be it from me to cast aspersions on a BBC Travel writer, but if there were actual real linguistic connections (ie, grammar) or genetic connections or cultural connections, surely there'd be more written about that? Armenia and the Basque region are not exactly obscure places.

ummonk 7y ago
That's not necessarily true. There aren't enough linguists out there (especially those fluent in any given language pair) to be able to vet such purported connections. That said, it's very common for people to notice superficial word coincidences in modern languages and think it implies a relationship. To demonstrate an actual relationship you need to go back to early versions of the two languages, come up with clear sound change rules for how words in one correspond to words in the other (languages change pronunciation over time and words shift in ways that are regular to the language; it's highly unlikely for words to stay identical across two related languages; instead you tend to have a set of sound change rules that tell you how to transform words from one language to get what the corresponding word in the other language is mostly like).