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In linguistics, the Japhetic hypothesis or Japhetic theory of Soviet linguist Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr (1864–1934) postulated that the Kartvelian languages of the Caucasus area are related to the Semitic languages of the Middle East. The hypothesis gained favor in the 1930s and 1940s among some Soviet linguists for ideological reasons as it was thought to represent "proletarian science" as opposed to "bourgeois science", but also had numerous detractors, most notably Arnold Chikobava. The hypothesis finally fell into disrepute and was largely discarded after 1950, when Joseph Stalin published a scathing critique of the views of Marr and his supporters, titled "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics".

Term

Marr adopted the term "Japhetic" from Japheth, the name of one of the sons of Noah, in order to characterise his hypothesis that the Kartvelian languages of the Caucasus area were related to the Semitic languages of the Middle East (named after Shem, Japheth's brother). Marr postulated a common origin of Caucasian, Semitic-Hamitic, and Basque languages. This initial hypothesis pre-dated the October Revolution (the first reference to it is made in Pan Tadeusz written by Adam Mickiewicz in the 1830s). In 1917, Marr enthusiastically endorsed the revolution, and offered his services to the new Soviet regime. He was soon accepted as the country's leading linguist.

Hypothesis

Under the Soviet government, Marr developed his hypothesis to claim that Japhetic languages had existed across Europe before the advent of the Indo-European languages.^[1]^[2]^[3] They could still be recognised as a substratum over which the Indo-European languages had imposed themselves. Using this model, Marr attempted to apply the Marxist theory of class struggle to linguistics, arguing that these different strata of language corresponded to different social classes. He stated that the same social classes in widely different countries spoke versions of their own languages that were linguistically closer to one another than to the speech of other classes who supposedly spoke “the same” language. This aspect of Marr's thinking was an attempt to extend the Marxist theory of international class consciousness far beyond its original meaning, by trying to apply it to language. Marr also insisted that the notion that a people are united by common language was nothing more than false consciousness created by “bourgeois nationalism”.

To draw support for his speculative doctrine, Marr elaborated a Marxist footing for it. He hypothesized that modern languages tend to fuse into a single language of communist society. This hypothesis was the basis for a mass campaign of "Latinisation" in the 1920s and 1930s to replace the existing Cyrillic alphabets of minority languages with Latin alphabets.

Obtaining recognition of his hypothesis from Soviet officials, Marr was permitted to manage the National Library of Russia from 1926 until 1930 and the Japhetic Institute of the Academy of Sciences from 1921 until his death in 1934. He was elected vice-president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1930.

In 1950, sixteen years after Marr's death, an article titled "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics", written by Joseph Stalin, was published in major Soviet periodicals.^[4] It was inspired by the writings of Marr's most energetic opponent, Arnold Chikobava,^[5]^[6] In the article, Stalin rebuts the Japhetic hypothesis, stating that "N. Ya. Marr introduced into linguistics another and also incorrect and non-Marxist formula, regarding the ‘class character’ of language, and got himself into a muddle and put linguistics into a muddle. Soviet linguistics cannot be advanced on the basis of an incorrect formula which is contrary to the whole course of the history of peoples and languages." Since then, the Japhetic hypothesis has been seen as deeply flawed, both inside and outside the former Soviet Union, but some of Marr's surviving students continued to defend and develop it into the late 1960s.^[7]

References

^ Thomas, L. L. (1957). The Linguistic Theories of N. Ja. Marr. University of California Press.
^ Sériot, P., ed. (2005). Un paradigme perdu : la linguistique marriste (PDF). Cahiers de l’ILSL. Vol. 20. Université de Lausanne.
^ Tuite, K. (January 2008). "The Rise and Fall and Revival of the Ibero-Caucasian Hypothesis" (PDF). Historiographia Linguistica. 35 (1–2): 23–82. doi:10.1075/hl.35.1-2.05tui.
^ Stalin, Joseph. "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics". marxists.org. Archived from the original on 2000-09-02. Retrieved 2020-07-07. First published in the June 20, July 4, and August 2, 1950 issues of Pravda; reprinted by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow.
^ Smith, Graham (1998). Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities. Cambridge University Press. p. 178. ISBN 0-521-59968-7.
^ Dahrendorf, Ellen (2005). The Unknown Stalin. I. B. Tauris. p. 205. ISBN 1-85043-980-X.
^ Gerasimov, Ilya; Glebov, Sergey; Mogilner, Marina (2016). "Hybridity: Marrism and the Problems of Language of the Imperial Situation". Ab Imperio. 2016 (1): 27–68. doi:10.1353/imp.2016.0023. S2CID 147952048.

External links

The Soviet Linguistic Theory (chapter 4 of Roman Smal-Stocki, The Nationality Problem of the Soviet Union): a hostile but thorough exposition of Japhetic hypothesis

[1] Thomas, L. L. (1957). The Linguistic Theories of N. Ja. Marr. University of California Press.

[2] Sériot, P., ed. (2005). Un paradigme perdu : la linguistique marriste (PDF). Cahiers de l’ILSL. Vol. 20. Université de Lausanne.

[3] Tuite, K. (January 2008). "The Rise and Fall and Revival of the Ibero-Caucasian Hypothesis" (PDF). Historiographia Linguistica. 35 (1–2): 23–82. doi:10.1075/hl.35.1-2.05tui.

[4] Stalin, Joseph. "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics". marxists.org. Archived from the original on 2000-09-02. Retrieved 2020-07-07. First published in the June 20, July 4, and August 2, 1950 issues of Pravda; reprinted by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow.

[5] Smith, Graham (1998). Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities. Cambridge University Press. p. 178. ISBN 0-521-59968-7.

[6] Dahrendorf, Ellen (2005). The Unknown Stalin. I. B. Tauris. p. 205. ISBN 1-85043-980-X.

[7] Gerasimov, Ilya; Glebov, Sergey; Mogilner, Marina (2016). "Hybridity: Marrism and the Problems of Language of the Imperial Situation". Ab Imperio. 2016 (1): 27–68. doi:10.1353/imp.2016.0023. S2CID 147952048.

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+{{Short description|Discredited theory of linguistic relationships}}
-{{Refimprove|date=September 2009}}
+{{More citations needed|date=September 2009}}
-In [[linguistics]], the '''Japhetic theory''' of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] linguist [[Nicholas Marr|Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr]] (1864&ndash;1934) postulated that the [[Kartvelian languages]] of the [[Caucasus]] area are related to the [[Semitic language]]s of the [[Middle East]]. The theory gained favor among Soviet linguists for ideological reasons, as it was thought to represent "[[proletarian]] science" as opposed to "[[bourgeois]] science".
+In [[linguistics]], the '''Japhetic hypothesis''' or '''Japhetic theory''' of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] linguist [[Nicholas Marr|Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr]] (1864&ndash;1934) postulated that the [[Kartvelian languages]] of the [[Caucasus]] area are related to the [[Semitic language]]s of the [[Middle East]]. The hypothesis gained favor in the 1930s and 1940s among some Soviet linguists for ideological reasons as it was thought to represent "[[proletarian]] science" as opposed to "[[bourgeois]] science", but also had numerous detractors, most notably [[Arnold Chikobava]]. The hypothesis finally fell into disrepute and was largely discarded after 1950, when [[Joseph Stalin]] published a scathing critique of the views of Marr and his supporters, titled "[[Marxism and Problems of Linguistics]]".
 ==Term==
-Marr adopted the term "Japhetic" from [[Japheth]], the name of one of the [[sons of Noah]], in order to characterise his theory that the [[South Caucasian languages|Kartvelian]] languages of the [[Caucasus]] area were related to the [[Semitic language]]s of the [[Middle East]] (named after [[Shem]], Japheth's brother). Marr postulated a common origin of Caucasian, [[Afro-Asiatic|Semitic-Hamitic]], and [[Basque language]]s. This initial theory pre-dated the [[October Revolution]] (the reference is made in ''[[Pan Tadeusz]]'' written by [[Adam Mickiewicz]] in the 1800s). In 1917, Marr enthusiastically endorsed the revolution, and offered his services to the new Soviet regime. He was soon accepted as the country's leading linguist.
+Marr adopted the term "Japhetic" from [[Japheth]], the name of one of the [[sons of Noah]], in order to characterise his hypothesis that the [[South Caucasian languages|Kartvelian]] languages of the [[Caucasus]] area were related to the [[Semitic language]]s of the [[Middle East]] (named after [[Shem]], Japheth's brother). Marr postulated a common origin of Caucasian, [[Afro-Asiatic|Semitic-Hamitic]], and [[Basque language]]s. This initial hypothesis pre-dated the [[October Revolution]] (the first reference to it is made in ''[[Pan Tadeusz]]'' written by [[Adam Mickiewicz]] in the 1830s). In 1917, Marr enthusiastically endorsed the revolution, and offered his services to the new Soviet regime. He was soon accepted as the country's leading linguist.
-==Theory==
+==Hypothesis==
-Under the Soviet government, Marr developed his theory to claim that [[Japhetic languages]] had existed across Europe before the advent of the [[Indo-European languages]]. They could still be recognised as a [[substratum]] over which the Indo-European languages had imposed themselves. Using this model, Marr attempted to apply the Marxist theory of [[class struggle]] to linguistics, arguing that these different strata of language corresponded to different social classes. He even claimed that the same social classes in widely different countries spoke versions of their own languages that were linguistically closer to one another than to the speech of other classes who supposedly spoke “the same” language. This aspect of Marr’s thinking was an attempt to extend the Marxist theory of international [[class consciousness]] far beyond its original meaning, by trying to apply it to language. Marr also insisted that the notion that a people are united by common language was nothing more than [[false consciousness]] created by “[[bourgeois nationalism]]”.
+Under the [[Soviet government]], Marr developed his hypothesis to claim that [[Japhetic languages]] had existed across Europe before the advent of the [[Indo-European languages]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Linguistic Theories of N. Ja. Marr |last=Thomas |first=L. L. |publisher=University of California Press |year=1957}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sériot |editor-first=P. |year=2005 |title=Un paradigme perdu : la linguistique marriste |series=Cahiers de l’ILSL |volume=20 |publisher=Université de Lausanne |url=https://www.unil.ch/files/live/sites/clsl/files/shared/CILSL20.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tuite |first=K. |date=January 2008 |title=The Rise and Fall and Revival of the Ibero-Caucasian Hypothesis |url=http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/tuitekj/publications/IberoCaucasian.pdf |journal=Historiographia Linguistica |volume=35 |issue=1–2 |pages=23–82 |doi=10.1075/hl.35.1-2.05tui}}</ref> They could still be recognised as a [[Substratum (linguistics)|substratum]] over which the Indo-European languages had imposed themselves. Using this model, Marr attempted to apply the Marxist theory of [[class struggle]] to linguistics, arguing that these different strata of language corresponded to different social classes. He stated that the same social classes in widely different countries spoke versions of their own languages that were linguistically closer to one another than to the speech of other classes who supposedly spoke “the same” language. This aspect of Marr's thinking was an attempt to extend the Marxist theory of international [[class consciousness]] far beyond its original meaning, by trying to apply it to language. Marr also insisted that the notion that a people are united by common language was nothing more than [[false consciousness]] created by “[[bourgeois nationalism]]”.
-To draw support for his speculative doctrine, Marr elaborated a [[Marxist]] footing for it. He hypothesized that modern languages tend to fuse into a single language of [[communist]] society. This theory was the basis for a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] mass [[Latinisation in the Soviet Union|campaign]] in the 1920s and 1930s introducing [[Latin alphabet]]s for smaller ethnicities of the country, including replacement of the existing [[Cyrillic alphabets]].
+To draw support for his speculative doctrine, Marr elaborated a [[Marxist]] footing for it. He hypothesized that modern languages tend to fuse into a single language of [[communist society]]. This hypothesis was the basis for [[Latinisation in the Soviet Union|a mass campaign of "Latinisation"]] in the 1920s and 1930s to replace the existing [[Cyrillic alphabets]] of minority languages with [[Latin alphabet]]s.
-Obtaining recognition of his theory from Soviet officials, Marr was permitted to manage the [[National Library of Russia]] from 1926 until 1930 and the Japhetic Institute of the Academy of Sciences from 1921 until his death in 1934. He was elected Vice-President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1930.
+Obtaining recognition of his hypothesis from Soviet officials, Marr was permitted to manage the [[National Library of Russia]] from 1926 until 1930 and the Japhetic Institute of the Academy of Sciences from 1921 until his death in 1934. He was elected vice-president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1930.
+In 1950, sixteen years after Marr's death, an article titled "[[Marxism and Problems of Linguistics]]", written by [[Joseph Stalin]], was published in major Soviet periodicals.<ref>{{cite web |first=Joseph |last=Stalin |author-link=Joseph Stalin |title=Marxism and Problems of Linguistics |website=marxists.org |url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1950/jun/20.htm |access-date=2020-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000902060004/http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1950/jun/20.htm |archive-date=2000-09-02}} First published in the June 20, July 4, and August 2, 1950 issues of Pravda; reprinted by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow.</ref> It was inspired by the writings of Marr's most energetic opponent, [[Arnold Chikobava]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Graham |year=1998 |title=Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities |page=178 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-59968-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Ellen |last=Dahrendorf |year=2005 |title=The Unknown Stalin |publisher=I. B. Tauris |isbn=1-85043-980-X |page=205}}</ref> In the article, Stalin rebuts the Japhetic hypothesis, stating that "N. Ya. Marr introduced into linguistics another and also incorrect and non-Marxist formula, regarding the ‘class character’ of language, and got himself into a muddle and put linguistics into a muddle. Soviet linguistics cannot be advanced on the basis of an incorrect formula which is contrary to the whole course of the history of peoples and languages." Since then, the Japhetic hypothesis has been seen as deeply flawed, both inside and outside the former Soviet Union, but some of Marr's surviving students continued to defend and develop it into the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gerasimov |first1=Ilya |last2=Glebov |first2=Sergey |last3=Mogilner |first3=Marina |title=Hybridity: Marrism and the Problems of Language of the Imperial Situation |journal=Ab Imperio |date=2016 |volume=2016 |issue=1 |pages=27–68 |doi=10.1353/imp.2016.0023 |s2cid=147952048 }}</ref>
-In 1950, sixteen years after Marr’s death, an anti-Marrist article signed by [[Joseph Stalin]] was published in major Soviet periodicals under the title ''Marxism and Problems of Linguistics''<ref>J. V. Stalin, ''Marxism and Problems of Linguistics'', first published in the June 20, July 4, and August 2, 1950 issues of [[Pravda]]; reprinted by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow. [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1950/jun/20.htm online version] (marxists.org)
-</ref> (it was inspired by the writings of Marr’s most energetic opponent, [[Arnold Chikobava]],<ref>Smith, Graham (1998), ''Nation-building in the Post-Soviet Borderlands: The Politics of National Identities'', p. 178. [[Cambridge University Press]], {{ISBN|0-521-59968-7}}.</ref> and some sources suggest that most of the text had actually been ghost-written by Chikobava or pieced together from Chikobava’s official report to Stalin<ref>Dahrendorf, Ellen (2005), ''The Unknown Stalin'', p. 205. I.B.Tauris, {{ISBN|1-85043-980-X}}.</ref>). The author wrote that “N. Ya. Marr introduced into linguistics another and also incorrect and non-Marxist formula, regarding the ‘class character’ of language, and got himself into a muddle and put linguistics into a muddle. Soviet linguistics cannot be advanced on the basis of an incorrect formula which is contrary to the whole course of the history of peoples and languages.” Since then, the Japhetic theory has been seen as deeply flawed, both inside and outside the former Soviet Union, but some of Marr’s surviving students continued to defend and develop it into the late 1960s.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}
 == See also ==
+* [[Georgy Danilov]]
 * [[Dené-Caucasian languages]]
-* [[Sun Language Theory]]
 * [[Khazar theory]]
 * [[Lemurian Tamil]]
 * [[Lysenkoism]]
+* [[Proto-language]]
+* [[Sun Language Theory]]
 == References ==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
+== External links ==
+* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Russia/_Topics/history/_Texts/SMANPS/4*.html The Soviet Linguistic Theory] (chapter 4 of Roman Smal-Stocki, ''The Nationality Problem of the Soviet Union''): a hostile but thorough exposition of Japhetic hypothesis
 {{Pseudoscience}}
@@ Line 33: / Line 39: @@
 [[Category:Obsolete scientific theories]]
 [[Category:Pseudohistory]]
-[[Category:Japhetic people|*]]
+[[Category:Japheth|*]]
 [[Category:Science and technology in the Soviet Union]]
 [[Category:Soviet phraseology]]
 [[Category:Pseudoscience]]
 [[Category:Historical linguistics]]
+[[Category:Pseudolinguistics]]