New Evidence Fuels Debate over the Origin of Modern Languages
Nomadic horse riders likely opened a “steppe bridge†between Europe and Asia, but recent genetic data raise more questions
By Roni Jacobson | Scientific American March 2018 Issue
Five thousand years ago nomadic horseback riders from the Ukrainian steppe charged through Europe and parts of Asia. They brought with them a language that is the root of many of those spoken today—including English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian and Persian. That is the most widely accepted explanation for the origin of this ancient tongue, termed Proto-Indo-European (PIE). Recent genetic findings confirm this hypothesis but also raise questions about how the prehistoric language evolved and spread.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-evidence-fuels-debate-over-the-origin-of-modern-languages/