China Social Science Review

No.2, 2023

 

A Review of the Applicability of the “Farming/Language Dispersal” Hypothesis in East Asia

(Abstract)

 

Yang Wenjiao and Wang Chuanchao

 

According to the “farming/language dispersal” hypothesis, agricultural development is one of the main drivers of language proliferation. The early spread of many of the world’s language families was due to the adoption of agrarian production methods by the people of the time, and the growth of agriculture led to an increase in population, driving the migration of early farmers and their languages to a wider area. How applicable is this hypothesis in East Asia? A review of the interdisciplinary linguistic, archaeological and genetic literature on the relationship between the spread of the major East Asian language families (ethnic groups) and agricultural development suggests that the “farming/language dispersal” hypothesis has some explanatory power for the origins and spread of the major East Asian language families (ethnic groups)­­­—Sino-Tibetan, Dong-Tai, Miao-Yao, Austronesian and South Asian languages—but the hypothesis itself has limitations. The hypothesis requires consideration of climatic conditions, geography and the history of language contact before it can be used. Multidisciplinary evidence demonstrates the explanatory power of the “farming/language dispersal” hypothesis in East Asia, and deepens our understanding of the timing and path of the spread of East Asian language families.