@article{oai:niigata-u.repo.nii.ac.jp:00006890, author = {Ohnishi, Koji}, journal = {Science reports of Niigata University. (Geology), Science reports of Niigata University. (Geology)}, month = {Mar}, note = {Among African languages, noun classifier-prefix system is most typically and frequently found in Niger-Kordofanian language family, and less frequently in some groups of Afro-Asiatic family, but not found in Khoisan family. Search for extra-African evolutionary reflexes (cognates) of Niger-Kordofanian-type classifier-prefixed nouns was made by comparing African vocabularies with extra-African ones. Comparison was also made from the aspects of Ruhlen's theory (1992, 1994) on monophyletic African origin of living Homo sapiens sapiens languages. Reflexes of classifier-prefixed nouns were found not only in Afro-Asiatic, Indo-European and Austronesian, but also in other language families in Asia, New Guinea, Australia, and America. Well-conserved fossilized classifier prefixes are frequently found in Indo-European and Austronesian. Comparative analyses of these African classifier-prefixed nouns and their possible cognates revealed that most or all extra-African languages would have almost undoubtedly evolved from Niger-Kordofanian languages or the likes, providing us with strong evidence for Ruhlen's theory. In order to elucidate later history of extra-African human dispersion, macro-comparisons were also made for Eurasian and Pacific-rim languages from several different aspects. Eskimo and Japanese were found to be kin languages of Austronesian. Possible close relationship between Mayan and Tibeto-Burman was postulated. Evolutionary kinships among Quechuan, Uralic, Indo-European, and Austronesian were found in cognates of Quechuan words possessing word-initial ll-, and were discussed from the aspect of their possible Austronesian origin.}, pages = {55--75}, title = {African origin of classifier-prefixed nouns in extra-African languages : New evidence for Ruhlen's monogenesis theory of human languages and further analysis of Mongoloid dispersion}, volume = {13}, year = {1998} }