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Urbian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urbian or Urian is a possible Old European or Pre-Indo-European (Pre-IE) language defined by Sorin Paliga. The Proto-Indo-European (Proto-IE) language, the descendants of which should have replaced the Pre-IE language or language family, ought not to include a root corresponding to Latin urbs, as the Proto-IE were nomadic or semi-nomadic (in the Kurgan model and most reconstructions of IE society from the roots). Therefore, a reconstructed *OR/UR- or *OL/UL-, "huge, big, elevated", used also to refer to an urban settlement, may well be the root of a cross-cultural repertory of words, such as Latin urbs, "city", Thracian Az-oros, Uri (Swiss location), Basque uri, hiri "township", Greek lab-yr-inthos and Sumerian Urbillum today the city of Irbil in Iraq.
On the other hand, many mainstream historical linguists, such as J.P. Mallory and John McWhorter, are skeptical of alleged linguistic connections based on allegedly common individual roots rather than systematic sound change patterns that demonstrate similar shifts across a range of words.
- Paliga, Sorin (Fall/Winter 1989). "Proto-Indo-European, Pre-Indo-European, Old European: Archaeological Evidence and Linguistic Investigation". The Journal of Indo-European Studies 17 (3&4).