At the edge of knowability: Towards a prehistory of languages

The issue of 'knowability' in relation to the origins and distribution of t he language families of the world is addressed, and recent advances in hist orical linguistic and molecular genetics reviewed. While the much-debated p roblem of the validity of the concept of the language 'macrofamily' cannot yet be resolved, it is argued that a time depth fro the origins of language families greater than the conventional received figure of c6000 years may in some cases be appropriate,allowing the possibility of a correlation betw een language dispersals and demographic processes following the end of the pleistocene period. The effects of these processes may still be visible in the linguistic 'spread zone', here seen as often the result of farming disp ersals, contrasting with the linguistic 'mosaic zones' whose early origins may sometimes go back to initial colonization episodes during the late plei stocene period. It further work in historical linguistics as well as in arc haeology and molecular genetics upholds these correlations a 'new synthesis ', whose outlines may already be discerned, is likely to emerge. This would have important consequences for prehistoric archaeology, and would be of i nterest also to historical linguists and molecular geneticists. If, however , the proposed recognition of such patterning proves illusory the prospects fro 'knowability' appear to be less favourable.