List of proposed language families

The following is a list of proposed language families, which connect established families into larger genetic groups (macro-families). Support for these proposals vary from case to case. For example, the Dené–Yeniseian languages are a recent proposal which has been generally well received, whereas reconstructions of the Proto-World language are often viewed as fringe science. Proposals which are themselves based on other proposals have the likelihood of their parts noted in parentheses.

Under considerations

This table is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Proposed name	Proposal	Agree	Disagree	Doubt	Ref.
Alarodian	Alarodian Hurro-Urartian Northeast Caucasian
Austric	Austric Austroasiatic Austronesian	Wilhelm Schmidt (initiator), La Vaughn H., Lawrence Reid, G. Diffloth, Paul Sidwell, Paul K. Benedict (later rejected), Sergei Starostin, John Bengtson, ASJP		Robert Blust, Paul K. Benedict	[1][2][3]
	Austric Austroasiatic Austronesian Japonic	Wilhelm Schmidt (initiator)
	Austric Austroasiatic Hmong–Mien Austronesian Kra–Dai	Paul K. Benedict (initiator, later rejected), Sergei Starostin, John Bengtson
	Austric Ainu Austroasiatic Hmong–Mien Austronesian Kra–Dai Nihali	John Bengtson (initiator)
Austro-Tai	Austro-Tai Austronesian Kra–Dai	Paul Benedict (initiator, also including Japanese), Ostapirat, Smith	Thurgood	Sagart	[4]
Aztec–Tanoan	Aztec–Tanoan Tanoan Uto-Aztecan
Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric	Chukotko-Kamchatkan–Amuric Chukotko-Kamchatkan Nivkh
Dené–Yeniseian	Dené–Yeniseian Na-Dene Yeniseian	Alfredo Trombetti (initiator), Merritt Ruhlen, Edward Vajda, Michael Krauss, Jeff Leer, James Kari, Heinrich Werner, Bernard Comrie, Johanna Nichols, Victor Golla, Michael Fortescue, Eric Hamp, Bill Poser, and Paul Kiparsky	George Starostin (Vajda's proposal)		[5]
Gulf	Gulf Atakapa Chitimacha Muskogean Natchez Tunica
Hokan	Hokan Chimariko Coahuilteco Comecrudan Esselen Jicaquean Karuk Palaihnihan Shastan Pomoan Salinan Seri Tequistlatecan Washo Yana Yuman–Cochimí
Ibero-Caucasian	Ibero-Caucasian Kartvelian Northeast Caucasian Northwest Caucasian
Indo-Uralic	Indo-Uralic Indo-European Uralic	Holger Pedersen (initiator), Kortlandt, Hannes Sköld, Alwin Kloekhorst, and Nikolai Dmitrievich Andreev	Christian Carpelan, Asko Parpola, Petteri Koskikallio, Angela Marcantonio, and Johan Schalin		[6]
	Indo-Uralic Indo-European Uralic–Yukaghir Uralic Yukaghir	Kortlandt (initiator)			[7]
Je–Tupi–Carib	Je–Tupi–Carib Cariban Macro-Jê Bororoan Jaikó Jê Kamakã Karajá Kariri Krenak Maxakalían Ofayé Purian Rikbaktsa Yabutian Tupian
Karasuk	Karasuk Burushaski Yeniseian
Macro-Chibchan	Macro-Chibchan Chibchan Lencan Misumalpan
Macro-Jê	Macro-Jê Bororoan Jaikó Jê Kamakã Karajá Kariri Krenak Maxakalían Ofayé Purian Rikbaktsa Yabutian
Macro-Pama–Nyungan	Macro-Pama–Nyungan Garawan Macro-Gunwinyguan Pama–Nyungan Tangkic
Macro-Panoan	Macro-Panoan Moseten–Chonan Chimane Chonan Pano-Tacanan Panoan Tacanan
Macro-Siouan	Macro-Siouan Caddoan Iroquoian Siouan Yuchi
Mataco–Guaicuru	Mataco–Guaicuru Guaicuruan Matacoan
Miao–Dai	Miao–Dai Hmong–Mien Kra–Dai	Ryuichi Kosaka (initiator)			[8]
Niger–Congo	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Dogon Ijaw Katloid Mande Rashad
Nilo-Saharan	Nilo-Saharan Kuliak Saharan Bʼaga Eastern Sudanic Kadu Koman Berta Central Sudanic Fur Kunama Maban Songhay
North Caucasian	North Caucasian Northeast Caucasian Northwest Caucasian
Pontic	Pontic Indo-European Northwest Caucasian	Émile Benveniste, Winfred P. Lehmann, Aert Kuipers, and John Colarusso			[9]
Quechumaran	Quechumaran Aymaran Quechuan
Serbi–Mongolic	Serbi–Mongolic Mongolic Para-Mongolic
Sino-Austronesian	Sino-Austronesian Austronesian Kra–Dai Sino-Tibetan	Laurent Sagart (initiator), Stanley Starosta	Weera Ostapirat, Alexander Vovin, George van Driem	Paul Jen-kuei Li and Robert Blust	[10][11]
Totozoquean	Totozoquean Chitimacha Mixe–Zoque Totonacan
Uralic–Yukaghir	Uralic–Yukaghir Uralic Yukaghir
Uralo-Siberian	Uralo-Siberian Eskaleut Uralic–Yukaghir Uralic Yukaghir	Michael Fortescue (initiator), Frederik Kortlandt			[12]
	Uralo-Siberian Eskaleut Nivkh Uralic–Yukaghir Uralic Yukaghir	Frederik Kortlandt (initiator)			[13]
Yok-Utian	Yok-Utian Utian Yokuts	Geoffrey Gamble(initiator), Catherine Callaghan
Yuki–Wappo	Yuki–Wappo Wappo Yuki

Widely rejected

Below are language families that are already rejected by most linguists. As they are widely rejected, only linguists who agree are shown.

This table is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Proposed name	Description	Status	Agree	Ref.
Almosan	Algic, Kutenai and Mosan	Widely rejected
Amerind	All languages in the Americas which do not belong to the Eskimo–Aleut or Na–Dene families	Widely rejected
Altaic	Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic and Japonic (and possibly Ainu)	Widely rejected; generally considered a Sprachbund
Austronesian–Ongan	Ongan and Austronesian	Widely rejected	Juliette Blevins (initiator)	[14]
Borean	All families except in sub-Saharan Africa, New Guinea, Australia, and the Andaman Islands	Widely rejected
Coahuiltecan	Native languages of modern Texas	Sprachbund
Dene–Caucasian	Na-Dené, North Caucasian, Sino-Tibetan, Yeniseian, and others.	Widely rejected
Dravido-Korean	Dravidian and Koreanic	Obsolete
Elamo-Dravidian	Elamite and Dravidian	Widely rejected
Eurasiatic	Indo-European, Uralic and Altaic	Widely rejected
Indo-Pacific	Several Pacific families.	Widely rejected
Indo-Semitic	Indo-European languages and Semitic languages or Afroasiatic languages	Widely rejected
Khoisan	African click-consonant languages that do not belong to any other macrophyla	Widely rejected
Macro-Mayan	Mayan with Totonacan, Mixe–Zoque, and Huave	Widely rejected
Mosan	Salishan, Wakashan, and Chimakuan languages of Pacific Northwest North America	Sprachbund
Nostratic	Afroasiatic, Kartvelian, Dravidian and Eurasiatic	Widely rejected
Proto-World	Reconstructed common ancestor of all living languages	Widely rejected	Alfredo Trombetti (initiator)
Ural–Altaic	Uralic and Altaic	Obsolete; considered a linguistic convergence zone
Sino-Uralic	Uralic, Sinitic	?	Jingyi Gao (initiator)

See also

• List of language families
• Macrofamily

References

1. Grierson, G. A. (January 1907). "Die Mon-Khmer-Völker, Ein Bindeglied Zwischen Völkern Zentralasiens und Austronesiens. By P. W. Schmidt, S.V.D. Reprinted from Archiv für Anthropologie, Neue Folge, Band v, Heft 1 u. 2. (Brunswick, 1906.)". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 39 (1): 187–191. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00035711. ISSN 0035-869X. S2CID 163114228.
2. "Alphabetisches Verzeichnis der vorkommenden Sprachen und Dialekte", Die westlichen Sudansprachen und ihre Beziehungen zum Bantu, Berlin, Boston: DE GRUYTER, 1927, doi:10.1515/9783111390192-003, ISBN 9783111390192, retrieved 9 January 2023
3. Benedict, Paul K. (12 October 1942). "Thai, Kadai, and Indonesian: A New Alignment in Southeastern Asia". American Anthropologist. 44 (4): 576–601. doi:10.1525/aa.1942.44.4.02a00040.
4. Smith, Alexander (2022-01-28). Alves, Mark; Sidwell, Paul (eds.). "More Austro-Tai Comparisons and Observations on Vowel Correspondences". Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society: Papers from the 30th Conference of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (2021). 15 (3): 112–134. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5781307. ISSN 1836-6821. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
5. Starostin, George (2012). "Dene-Yeniseian: a critical assessment". p. 137
6. Aikio, Ante (January 2022). "Proto-Uralic". In Bakró-Nagy, Marianne; Laakso, Johanna; Skribnik, Elena (eds.). Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
7. Kortlandt, Frederik (2004). "NIVKH AS A URALO-SIBERIAN LANGUAGE". researchgate.net.
8. Kosaka, Ryuichi (2002). "On the affiliation of Miao-Yao and Kadai: Can we posit the Miao-Dai family?" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 32: 71–100.
9. Colarusso, John (1997). "Proto-Pontic: Phyletic links between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Northwest Caucasian". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 25: 119–51.
10. Sagart, L. (1990) "Chinese and Austronesian are genetically related". Paper presented at the 23rd International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, October 1990, Arlington, Texas.
11. Sagart, Laurent (2016). "The wider connections of Austronesian: A response to Blust (2009)". Diachronica. 33 (2): 255–281. doi:10.1075/dia.33.2.04sag.
12. Fortescue, Michael (2011). "The relationship of Nivkh to Chukotko-Kamchatkan revisited". Lingua. 121 (8): 1359–1376. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2011.03.001.I would no longer wish to relate CK directly to [Uralo-Siberian], although I believe that some of the lexical evidence [...] will hold up in terms of borrowing/diffusion.
13. Kortlandt, Frederik (2004). "NIVKH AS A URALO-SIBERIAN LANGUAGE". researchgate.net.
14. van Driem, George (2011). "Rice and the Austroasiatic and Hmong-Mien homelands". In N.J Enfield (ed.). Dynamics of human diversity: the case of mainland Southeast Asia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Retrieved 13 November 2021.