Disease-mapping methods add geographical history to language
family tree.
Languages as diverse as English, Russian and Hindi can trace
their roots back more than 8,000 years to Anatolia — now in modern-day Turkey.
That's the conclusion of a study1 that assessed 103 ancient and contemporary
languages using a technique normally used to study the evolution and spread of
disease. The researchers hope that their findings can settle a long-running
debate about the origins of the Indo-European language group.