Dr.
Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin (Cyrillic: Серге́й Анато́льевич Ста́ростин, March 24, 1953 – September 30, 2005) was a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n
historical linguistHistorical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages;...
and scholar, best known for his work with hypothetical
proto-languageA proto-language is the common ancestor of the languages that form a language family. Occasionally, the German term Ursprache is used instead....
s, especially the controversial theory of
Altaic languagesAltaic is a language family that is generally held by its proponents to include the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Korean, and Japonic language families . These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe...
and the formulation of the
Dené-CaucasianThe Dené-Caucasian language family is a proposed language superfamily containing at least the Caucasian, Yeniseian, Burushaski, Sino-Tibetan, and Na-Dené languages...
hypothesis, which assumes that Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian, Yeniseian,
Sino-TibetanThe Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family composed of, at least, the Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages, including some 250 languages of East Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia...
, and Na-Dené all have a genetic relationship. He was instrumental in the reconstruction of Proto-Kiranti, Proto-Tibeto-Burman,
Proto-YenisseianThe Yeniseian language family is spoken in central Siberia.-Family division:0...
,
Proto-North-CaucasianNorth Caucasian languages is a blanket term for two language phyla spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey: the Northwest Caucasian family and the Northeast Caucasian family North Caucasian languages (sometimes called simply Caucasic as opposed to Kartvelian, and to avoid confusion with...
, and Proto-Altaic. He devoted much of his later life to developing the theory, originated by
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur KhanAbu al-Ghazi Bahadur was a khan of Khiva and a historian of Chagatai Turkish literature.He was born in Urgench, Khanate of Khiva, the son of ruler 'Arab Muhammad Khan. He fled to the Safavid court in Isfahan after a power struggle arose among him and his brothers. He lived there in exile from...
in the 17th century, but really revived by
Gustaf John RamstedtGustaf John Ramstedt was a Swedish-speaking Finnish linguist and diplomat.-Biography:Ramstedt was born in Ekenäs in Southern Finland....
in the early 20th century, that
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
is an
AltaicAltaic is a language family that is generally held by its proponents to include the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Korean, and Japonic language families . These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe...
language.
Since 1985, Starostin had been developing
STARLING, a linguist's workplace software.
At the time of his death, he was a
professorThe meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual...
at the
Russian State University for the HumanitiesThe Russian State University for the Humanities , is a university in Moscow, Russia with over 5500 students. It was created in 1991 as the result of the merger of the Moscow Public University and the Moscow State Institute for History and Archives.-History:The Moscow Public University, founded in...
, a visiting professor at the
Santa Fe InstituteThe Santa Fe Institute is a non-profit research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the study of complex systems.- Overview :...
, and a frequent guest lecturer at
Leiden UniversityLeiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by Prince William of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, where he was awarded the degree of
Doctor honoris causaAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements...
in June 2005.
Starostin died of a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die...
on September 30, 2005, shortly after delivering a lecture in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
. His son, George Starostin, is also a linguist, as well as being well-known on the internet as a hobbyist music critic.
External links
- The Tower of Babel "a massive resource, containing huge amounts of information on almost all of Eurasia's language families"