Indo-hittite (Noun)
Meaning
The family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern Asia.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The Indo-Hittite hypothesis proposes that the Anatolian languages, such as Hittite, split off from the Proto-Indo-European language before the latter branched into the various European and Asian languages.
- Scholars have long debated the validity of the Indo-Hittite theory, with some arguing that the similarities between Hittite and other Indo-European languages are due to linguistic convergence rather than a common ancestry.
- The discovery of the Hittite language in the early 20th century provided significant evidence for the Indo-Hittite hypothesis, as it showed that the language was closely related to other Indo-European languages.
- Proponents of the Indo-Hittite theory argue that the presence of Hittite in Anatolia by 1600 BC suggests that the Proto-Indo-European language must have existed at least a thousand years earlier.
- Despite ongoing debate, many linguists accept the Indo-Hittite hypothesis as the most plausible explanation for the origins of the Indo-European language family.