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Origins of Linguistic Zonation in the Australian Alps. Part 2 - Snell's Law

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  • Christopher Illert

Abstract

In this second paper, analysing archival SE-Australian Aboriginal word/name lists, Snell's Law is used to deduce the likely minimal sound-systems of pre Ice-Age language superfamilies - some probably dating back beyond the first occupation of Australia by humans. The deduced 'Turuwal-like' ancestral sound-system is then used as a basis for reconstructing deictic forms apparently so ancient that they seem to even unify 'PamaNyungan' and 'non-PamaNyungan' language within a single system of formal logic which, having apparently provided the semantic basis for at least 60,000 years of speech throughout the entire Australian continent, deserves to be called proto-Australian regardless of whether or not it arose in SE-Asia tens of millennia before. Whatever the exact age of this reconstructed proto-Australian, presented here for the first time, it is an order of magnitude older than any known human language and, as such, a 'Rosetta Stone' for human languages worldwide. It also provides an unprecedented window into human consciousness and perception of the world up to 75,000 years ago, which is especially significant given that humans can only have engaged in finely controlled speech and fully modern language since chance mutation of our FOXP2 gene about 120,000 years ago. These truly ancient deictic forms dating halfway back to the beginning of modern human speech, retrieved only through modern statistical analysis, provide insight into our very origins and as such are perhaps amongst the most precious cultural treasures that humanity currently possesses.1

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Illert, 2006. "Origins of Linguistic Zonation in the Australian Alps. Part 2 - Snell's Law," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(9), pages 989-1030.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:japsta:v:33:y:2006:i:9:p:989-1030
    DOI: 10.1080/02664760500450160
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    1. Christopher Illert, 2005. "Origins of linguistic zonation in the Australian Alps. part 1 - Huygens' principle," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 625-659.
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