Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
The proto-indo-european language develops in Central Asia
The Indo-European proto-language was spoken in a homeland South-East of the
Black Sea by a collection of semi-nomadic clans and pastoral tribes which more
or less could understand each other (8th - 6th Millennium B.C.). As such, we
might better conceive of Proto Indo-European as a group of related dialects
which evolved from one branch of the proposed primitive Nostratic parent
language macro-family. Scholars have determined the location based on an
extensive reconstructed vocabulary of Proto Indo-European, and the habitat it
describes. This was an adaptive language, one with which they sang, joked,
loved, lamented and prayed. Linguistic evidence indicates that they prayed to *Deiwos
( = the God of Light ). These Proto Indo-European dialects were either of
the peripheral tribes, or of the central tribes. Innovations which occurred
within the central tribal dialects might not be reflected in some of the
peripheral dialects. Migrations due to climate shifts further differentiated the
dialects, as various groups dispersed to seek opportunities. Outside influences
on the peripheral dialects might not be felt by the central dialects. Thus, it
is difficult to say what "Proto Indo-European" was like if we do not accept the
diversity of that proto language and it's speakers. The migration from the
mountains of Eastern Turkey (approx. 7th - 4th Millennium B.C.) to the steppes
of Russia separated the Anatolian group from linguistic contact with the
semi-nomadic groups that migrated on to settle the expanse in the North beyond
the Caucasus mountain range. The "Epoch" of Proto Indo-European in Southern
Russia was comparatively short, and characterized by dissolution of tribal
groups dispersing and eventually migrating to distant lands. The spread of
Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup R1a1 is associated with the spread of the
Indo-European languages, too. The vocabulary of these groups adapted to new
environments, but enough "core" terms survived to enable the reconstruction of
those terms.
The proto-language dialect of each of these migrating tribes evolved
differently from the other dialects. Some dialects seldom lost prolonged contact
with each other, as in the case of Baltic and Slavic. This explains the
similarities between those two groups, both of which have many archaic features
still worthy of serious study. Also, some Proto-Indo-European tribes (dialects)
maintained tribal alliances (linguistic contact) up to their various distinct
Proto-Stages, as in the example of Proto-Baltic/ -Slavic/ -Germanic. Certain
lexical correspondences and innovations (as in the words for "thousand", or
"wax") bear this out.
The Proto Indo-European language slowly evolved from a dialect of Nostratic,
primitive at first, but expressive. With time, it's speakers innovated new ways
to render it more precise and effective. One innovation lead to another, and
eventually the everyday speech of these people resembled something somewhat
similiar to the reconstructed synthetic proto-language theorized by scholars. It
is doubtful that it ever possessed the elegant complexity often set forth about
it. That complexity was nonetheless accomplished later, in both humble and
renown languages, all derived from Proto Indo-European. Such are the languages
as Sanskrit, or Lithuanian.
The transition from active (fientive) to the later, and more complex,
declensional system was accomplished using various "quasi-paradigmatic"
adverbial forms in the dialects.
The four cases of West-Baltic (Prussian & Sudovian) declension are not an
innovation but an archaic feature uniting West Baltic with Germanic and Greek.
Only nominative, genitive, dative and accusative forms have constant
intercrossing functions in various Indo-European languages, while forms used for
the instrumental or locative cases (traditionally declared to be "Common
Indo-European"), have related functions. Such intercrossing elements were used
for semi-paradigmatic adverbial forms, differently paradigmatized in the various
Indo-European languages.
"The traditional academic construct of a seven case declensional system for
Proto Indo-European is as synthetic as it is theoretically convenient."
(Jeannette DeBusk Cox)
The differentiation between each dialect became more pronounced as time went
by. Those dialect tribes that remained in closer contact later resembled each
other more, as in the case of Baltic, Indo-Iranian, Germanic, and Slavic (each
with their somewhat similiar grammatical innovations). In the case of Baltic,
with many of it's supra-archaic qualities, a clearer window into past
developements is possible to determine how such innovations took place. Thus,
Baltic Studies will continue to enrich and redefine Proto-Indo-European Studies,
now and far into the future.
