Pangea and the primordial protolinguistic division for the

development of language families: origin of the Basque language

Pangea y la división protolingüística primigenia para el desarrollo de las

familias lingüísticas: origen del euskera

Jhon Jairo Mosquera Rodas

Abstract

The research presents an analysis of the Pangea continent and the primordial proto-linguistic
division, generating a first pangeo-linguistic wave or pangeo-linguistic era in which the
different tribal ethnic groups participate with their respective cultures, dialects and
languages. From this perspective, the second pangeo-linguistic wave is generated, which
follows a period of dual character, where structural changes occur in the migration processes
that affect dialects and languages. Finally, the proto-linguistic classification of Basque is
presented, using Wegener's theory as a starting point.

Keywords: Pangea, dialects, language, culture, evolution.

Resumen

La investigación presenta un análisis del continente Pangea y la división proto-lingüística

primigenia, generándose una primera oleada pangeo-lingüística o era la pangeo lingüística
donde las diferentes etnias tribales participan con sus respectivas culturas, dialectos y
lenguas. Desde esta perspectiva se genera la segunda oleada pangeo-lingüística, que
sobreviene a un periodo de carácter dual, donde ocurren cambios estructurales en los
procesos de migración que afectan a los dialectos y a las lenguas. Finalmente se presenta la

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clasificación proto-lingüística del euskera partiendo de la teoría de Wegener como punto de
partida.

Palabras claves: Pangea, dialectos, lengua, cultura, evolución.

Methodology: A qualitative study is carried out, Rojas, B. (2010) [4] with a comparative
orientation (Tonon, 2011, pp. 1-12) [5], focused on the interpretation of the primordial proto-
linguistic division for the development of modern linguistic families, based on the analysis
of the proto-euskera or first language of the Basque territory.

Problem question: What is the original origin of the Basque language?

I. PANGEA AND THE PRIMORDIAL PROTOLINGUISTIC DIVIDE: THE FIRST

PANGEO-LINGUISTIC WAVE OR PANGEO-LINGUISTIC AGE

In order to understand the dynamics of languages, it is not enough just to make a division
centred on the linguistic component or on the differences that they have with respect to other
language families, although this is a good start for a scientific characterisation of the
language, it is not enough, since this procedure prevents a complex perspective of the
language families and their origin, which in the end constitute the best tool for any type of
historical and even etymological analysis of the language. Instead, it is necessary to
understand the evolutionary dynamics of languages and dialects from the perspective of
human history and anthropology, as essential elements for the development of a correct
characterisation of languages and dialects. In this order of ideas, it is necessary to go back
to the past in order to find the very origin of languages and dialects. For this purpose, the
research will resort to the theory of Pangea as a starting point for the recognition of proto-
languages and their respective evolutionary stages, as well as being the basis for a true proto-
linguistic taxonomy of the world's linguistic families. Below is the map of the great continent
Pangaea originally proposed by Alfred Wegener, a German geophysicist and meteorologist.

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Figure 1. Political division of the continent Pangea.

Source:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316326757_Continental_Drift_and_Speci
ation_of_the_Cryptococcus_neoformans_and_Cryptococcus_gattii_Species_Complexes

In the words of anthropologist Tolson (2023):

Studies of the distribution of fossil plants and animals also suggest the existence of Pangaea.
Leaf impressions of a fern, Glossopteris, are widely distributed in rocks in Africa, South
America, India and Australia. [1]

Now, a first approach to the problem of proto-languages in the world has to do with how to
characterise them, assuming the position of the supercontinent Pangaea [2] as the most distant
and yet closest origin to a taxonomy of languages and dialects that defines the true linguistic
dynamics of the past, not only that of humanity, but also the way in which language families

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emerge from an ancestral political division that gives rise to the modern languages that are
recognised as such today.

In this research, the first thing to mention is that in ancient times, the political division of
Pangaea produced a division into linguistic families, typical of the agglomerations of
populations in territories that were moderately defined by phenomena such as nomadism,
sedentary lifestyle, culture, customs and languages; Therefore, in order to describe the main
topic of this research, it is necessary to make a linguistic cartography of the time when the
great continent existed, and where the geological barriers prevail over the maritime barriers,
since at that time the division of the continents as we know it today, and the consequent
navigation of the seas, had not taken place.

Assuming that there was no linguistic division on the great continent is more than
problematic for the development of the history of language and the classification of languages
by families, an aspect that has been one of the fundamental elements of categorisation since
its origin, the first thing to admit is that there was the possibility of a political division, or
rather, if a political division can be made on the continent of Pangaea, it is logical to say that
this division was accompanied by a linguistic division that many linguists have called proto-
languages; The proto-languages and their respective linguistic division in the territory allow
a better understanding of the dynamics of the language families and of course of their origin
in the different areas of this primordial continent.

Consequently, the existence of a linguistic cartography that allows the generation of a

taxonomy of languages at the proto level is the beginning of a linguistic history that goes
hand in hand with the development of geology, anthropology and sociology, sciences that
are often linked to the history of humanity, according to its use of languages for its
development over time.

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II. SECOND PANGEO-LINGUISTIC WAVE: DUAL PANGEOLINGUISTIC PERIOD

The linguistic perspective of Pangea corresponds to the beginning of the world linguistic
cartography, as it contains the dynamics of the tribal languages with their corresponding
dialects, in this order of ideas, although a specific characterisation is difficult due to its
remoteness in time, it is possible to deduce linguistic zones that roughly speaking contained
the first languages and dialects. But the most important aspect of all this is a possible more
or less homogeneous linguistic development, which allows fluid communication between the
inhabitants of the territories.1.

With respect to the linguistic zones of Pangaea, Alexander Du Toit's geological research
allows for a dual division that in the first instance allows us to understand the first 2 zones
into which the supercontinent was divided, and therefore its languages and dialects [1].

Figure 2. Linguistic zones in Pangea based on Du Toit's research.

Source: https://es.dreamstime.com/mapas-de-laurasia-y-gondwana-fronteras-continentales-
oce%C3%A1nicos-globo-con-las-formaron-el-supercontinente-pangaea-teor%C3%ADa-la-
image205643856

1
Here it should not be forgotten that linguistic development in the territories is related to animist religions
and their nature cults, a common aspect of the different ethnic groups that existed at that time.

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The first division or first wave, both politically and linguistically, allows us to identify 2 great
families in the great linguistic family of Laurasia and that of Gondwana, the distribution of
the proto-languages in both territories being as follows.

Great linguistic family of Laurasia:

- South American linguistic family.

- African language family.

- Indian language family

- Antarctic language family

- Australian linguistic family

Great Gondwanan linguistic family:

- North American language family

- Eurasian language family.

This division into large families allows a better understanding of the evolutionary dynamics
and, therefore, facilitates the location of languages or dialects that so far have no explanation
[9], as is the case of the Basque language and its dialects, which have their origin in the Great
Gondwana linguistic family, although due to the displacement of ethnic groups, they have
migrated to another subcontinent belonging to Pangea, and to Eurasia, in different periods of
humanity.

This division is verified by the fracture zones of the Mediterranean seas, proposed by
Wegener, which make it possible to deduce the linguistic zones of the first wave of linguistic
protofamilies referred to above. As will be shown below.

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Figure 3. Fracture zones of the Mediterranean Wegener Seas.

Fuente: https://www.academia.edu/31098414/El_origen_de_los_continentes

This being the most widely accepted division in relation to Wegener's theory and at a
secondary level to Du Toit's theory, it is necessary to make an initial classification of the
euskera language in relation to these discoveries.

III. PROTO-LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATION OF BASQUE FROM WEGENER'S

THEORY.

If Wegener's theory is taken up again, the dual option of Laurasia and Gondwana disappears,
this being a general division that provides a list of proto-linguistic families that evolved in
the large territories of Pangaea.

- South American linguistic family.

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- African linguistic family.

- Indian linguistic family.

- Antarctic language family.

- Australian language family.

- Eurasian language family.

Examining the above discovery, it follows that Proto- euskera belongs to the Eurasian
language family2, being either a group of dialects or the original language of the territory,
which have cultural elements that distinguish them, especially those that obey the animist
religion and the customs of this particular ethnic group. The point is that no language evolves
in isolation, and in this respect Basque is no different from the other types of languages or
groups of dialects that existed and exist in the world and on the continents. Although this is
a premise that continues to be fulfilled, it is necessary to understand in greater depth what is
happening with this population of origin, and to do so it is necessary to use the data provided
by the United Nations Department of Public Information [3]:

"Indigenous languages are not only methods of communication, but also extensive and
complex knowledge systems that have developed over millennia. They are fundamental to
the identity of indigenous peoples, to the preservation of their cultures, concepts and ideas,
and to the expression of self-determination. When indigenous languages are threatened,
indigenous peoples are also threatened". (párr. 4) [3]

In other words, the original Proto- euskera or the group of dialects that existed in the territory
contain the essential expression of this ethnic group, but it is necessary to analyse this
discovery far beyond the superficial understanding of it; the displacements from Africa
constitute one of the main proofs of a first migration that affects Proto- euskera and its
inhabitants, that is, the African linguistic family migrates towards the territory occupied by

2
El el caso de emplear el estudio de Du Toit como referencia, la clasificación seria: el protoeuskera
pertenece a la gran familia de Gondwana y de la familia lingüística Eurasia.

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the ethnic group that inhabited the territory where Proto- euskera evolved,3 affecting all the
dialects or as the language of origin of this territory. This aspect is confirmed by the study of
the genetics of the Basques, together with the birth of homosapiens in Africa and their
displacement towards the Middle East [7], until a third migration that manages to reach the
Iberian Peninsula, an aspect that constitutes the first vestige to locate the respective linguistic
variation suffered by the inhabitants of this area and that affects the original Basque people
at this historical moment, but if this incursion into the primitive Basque ethnic group is
analysed in greater detail, several innovative aspects can be found, namely:

Local characteristics or Proto- euskera speakers-listeners.

- Extensive and complex knowledge system(s).

- Method(s) of communication.

- Development of the identity of indigenous peoples.

- Preservation of their cultures, conceptions and ideas.

- Expression of self-determination. [3]

Although both ethnic groups have a tribal character, the foreign language actively or
passively imposes its own characteristics, which in this case would be:

Characteristics of the foreign language

- Transformation of broad and complex knowledge system(s), privileging one's own.

- Imposition of tribal communication method(s), dialect or language.

- Imposition of the development of the identity of the dominant or foreign indigenous people.

- Transformation of the invaded culture(s) in relation to their conceptions and ideas.

- Diminishing the expression of self-determination of the original culture.4

3
It is most likely that there were dialects in the territory, but as we cannot know the real state of the
community, it is left open to the possibility of the existence of a language, both possibilities being referred
to in this research as proto-euskera.
4
Element adapted from [3]

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The above allows us to notice in this first migration that took place approximately 40,000
years ago [7], [8], the changes that it made to the proto-euskera language, this being the very
origin of dialectal variations that would later be transformed into the base dialects in the
different epochs. Hence the very specific problem of locating the Basque people and Proto-
euskera in relation to a particular language or group of languages, an aspect that is verified
by the complex cultural transition that this implies for any group of dialects or for a language
already established in a specific territory.

Now, in order to discover the threshold of Proto-euskera, which is in fact the very origin of
the current Basque language, or at least the closest that can be discovered, it is necessary to
analyse the first migration, bringing it closer to the current territories:

Table 1. Comparison of the territories of the former migration with the current political
division.

Current territories of the first migration to the Iberian Peninsula 200,000 years ago
Africa-200,000 years Middle East-60,000 Arrival on the Iberian Peninsula-
Alien ethnic group years 40,000 years ago Local ethnicity or
Proto- euskera speakers
Northern Botswana. [6] Arabia Saudita, Argelia, Countries in transit to the Iberian
and countries in transit Bahrain, Comoras, Peninsula.
to the Middle East. Egipto, Emiratos
Árabes Unidos, Iraq,
Jordania, Kuwait,
Líbano, Libia,
Mauritania, Marruecos,
Omán, Palestina, Qatar,
Si ria, Somalia, Sudán,
Tunicia, Yemen y
Yibuti.
Fuente: elaboración propia a partir de...

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The mere comparison of the migration territories through which homosapiens pass, allows
us to discover a wide range of changes that they undergo together with their native language
or dialect, in the course of the migratory process towards the Iberian Peninsula, aspects that
will impact the Basque territory, their dialects and later their language.

Conclusions

The first myth that the research demolishes is that Basque, in this case Proto-euskera, does
not belong to the linguistic families; if we use the classification of the present research, Proto-
euskera e belongs to the Eurasian family, where its tribal origin is to be found. Now, if we
want to answer the question of what is the primordial origin of Basque, it is to be found in
this linguistic family, the greatest difficulty being to find similar elements between the
different languages or dialects before and even after this period of time, since approximately
200,000 years ago the process of migration of homosapiens began, which will end with a
structural modification of Proto-euskera, from the linguistic-cultural colonisation of the
Basque territory, with the consequent changes that these bring to the Basque territory at that
time (see table 1).

The main contribution of the study has to do with the classification based on the great
continent of Pangaea and the respective primordial proto-linguistic division, to which
Wegener's discovery alludes, which shows the possibility of a functional distribution of the
proto-linguistic families in this primordial territory of the ancient world, opening up the
possibility of locating the so-called isolated languages in the historical linguistic panorama.

Another important aspect is the mobility of the changes in the linguistic structure of the
dialects or of the Proto- euskera language, due to the various migrations that have occurred
in the different geological eras in the region, which further problematise the issue of the
meeting of lexical, morphological, semantic and other elements up to the present day, an

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aspect that is only superficially referenced in table 1, and which the research by Olalde, I.,
Mallick, S., Patterson, N., Rohland et al,[7] has dealt with in depth at the historical genetic
level.

References

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