UC Berkeley

This dissertation holds that genetic data are a useful tool for evaluating contemporary models of Germanic origins. The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and include among their major contemporary representatives English, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic. Historically, the search for Germanic origins has sought to determine where the Germanic languages evolved, and why the Germanic languages are similar to and different from other European languages. Both archaeological and linguist approaches have been employed in this research direction. The linguistic approach to Germanic origins is split among those who favor the Stammbaum theory and those favoring language contact theory. Stammbaum theory posits that Proto-Germanic separated from an ancestral Indo-European parent language. This theoretical approach accounts for similarities between Germanic and other Indo-European languages by posting a period of mutual development. Germanic innovations, on the other hand, occurred in isolation after separation from the parent language. Language contact theory posits that Proto-Germanic was the product of language convergence and this convergence explains features that Germanic shares with other Indo-European languages. Germanic innovations, on the other hand, are potentially a relic of an era before language convergence.

Contemporary models of Germanic origins have gravitated towards language contact theory to explain the position of Germanic within the European linguistic tapestry. However, this theoretical approach is very dependent on the historical record for assessing the influence of language convergence. This dissertation utilizes genetic data, primarily single nucleotide polymorphism from the human Y-chromosome, for overcoming this inherent weakness of language contact theory. With genetic data, the linguist can now assess the influence of prehistoric language convergence by tracing prehistoric population expansions. Based on the available genetic data, the evolution of Germanic during the European prehistory may have been shaped by the convergence of Proto-Basque, Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Afroasiatic, and perhaps to a lesser extent, Proto-Uralic.