I said in a recent thread that I have trouble getting interested in languages to which I have no connection, which made me think a little bit about what connections I may actually have. Now I’m not deviating from my new year’s language plan (not yet anyway), but I’m considering running down my Ancestry DNA list and eventually learning the languages from the groups that consistently show up (Anyone who has Ancestry DNA knows that the program updates frequently, and “less certain” ethnic matches appear and disappear with every update-I’m only counting ones that remain more or less consistent through each update). Taking those into account, my list would look like this:
Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish- these make up the majority of my ethnic background. I’m already fluent in Spanish and well on my way to proficiency in the other two. I’m also playing with Neapolitan and Sicilian, which are the languages that my Italian grandparents actually spoke.
Indigenous Puerto Rican- this particular dialect of Arawak is extinct, and learning resources are scarce- probably going to skip it.
Greek- some form of Greek appears on every update. While this is likely due more to my Southern Italian heritage than a direct connection to Greece, it’s still worth learning.
North African- Undoubtedly due to Spanish/Canary Islander background. Guanche is extinct, but Berber or Maghrebi Arabic could still be on the table if I can motivate myself.
European Jewish- vague and could feasibly refer to dozens of countries. I have no way to narrow it, and no real interest in Yiddish, so I might just settle on Biblical Hebrew.
Anatolia/Caucasus- Ancestry defines this as Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. If I had to guess, based on historical patterns in the countries that always, or almost always, show up in updates, Turkish is the most likely source (assuming it’s valid to begin with), but something about Armenian calls to me.
Senegal- A little Wolof sounds interesting.
Malta/Basque Country- both languages are definitely on my list for the distant future.
Combing through the profiles of aunts, uncles, and cousins, I’ve also determined that it’s likely I have some trace amounts of Irish/Scottish, so my list goes on, and that doesn’t even factor in my obsession with classical, medieval, and Catholic liturgical languages. I figure this will take about 137 years all in if I work 8 hours a day. Anyone else insane enough to try this?
Ancestry DNA language list
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- White Belt
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 11:48 pm
- Languages: English (N), Spanish (Heritage-Advanced), Italian (Low-Intermediate), Sicilian (Passive-working on it), Latin (High Beginner) Old English (Beginner)
- x 42
- Iversen
- Black Belt - 4th Dan
- Posts: 4782
- Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:36 pm
- Location: Denmark
- Languages: Monolingual travels in Danish, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Romanian and (part time) Esperanto
Ahem, not yet: Norwegian, Afrikaans, Platt, Scots, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Greek, Latin, Irish, Indonesian and a few more... - Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1027
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Re: Ancestry DNA language list
Interesting thought, but the connections are not only numerous, but also fairly distant (unless you have living relatives speaking the languages in question, of course) so the ensuing motivation may not be enough to justify learning such a bewildering array of mostly unrelated languages. I think you will drop the idea once you see the practical consequences.
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- Black Belt - 1st Dan
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:26 am
- Languages: English (native), French & German (learning).
- Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... &start=200
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Re: Ancestry DNA language list
Ladino might be a better fit with your other languages.Fuerza wrote:European Jewish- vague and could feasibly refer to dozens of countries. I have no way to narrow it, and no real interest in Yiddish, so I might just settle on Biblical Hebrew.
I figure this will take about 137 years all in if I work 8 hours a day.
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- White Belt
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 11:48 pm
- Languages: English (N), Spanish (Heritage-Advanced), Italian (Low-Intermediate), Sicilian (Passive-working on it), Latin (High Beginner) Old English (Beginner)
- x 42
Re: Ancestry DNA language list
Iversen wrote:Interesting thought, but the connections are not only numerous, but also fairly distant (unless you have living relatives speaking the languages in question, of course) so the ensuing motivation may not be enough to justify learning such a bewildering array of mostly unrelated languages. I think you will drop the idea once you see the practical consequences.
Lol you give me too much credit. I’ll likely give up long before that point.
Last edited by Fuerza on Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- White Belt
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2021 11:48 pm
- Languages: English (N), Spanish (Heritage-Advanced), Italian (Low-Intermediate), Sicilian (Passive-working on it), Latin (High Beginner) Old English (Beginner)
- x 42
Re: Ancestry DNA language list
DaveAgain wrote:Ladino might be a better fit with your other languages.Fuerza wrote:European Jewish- vague and could feasibly refer to dozens of countries. I have no way to narrow it, and no real interest in Yiddish, so I might just settle on Biblical Hebrew.I figure this will take about 137 years all in if I work 8 hours a day.
Ladino entered my mind, but every time I listen to a Ladino clip online I already understand virtually everything.
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- CaroleR
- Orange Belt
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2022 2:32 am
- Location: an island in the Salish Sea
- Languages: English (N)
Québécois French (low intermediate) - Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=18588
- x 394
Re: Ancestry DNA language list
Fuerza wrote:Anyone else insane enough to try this?
No! I'm not insane enough to try this! Especially with a monumental list like yours. Wow! Mine is only three, possibly four languages other than English. One that did interest me briefly was Basque, which was at 2% for one Ancestry update. But then it disappeared and I lost interest. So I get the need to feel a connection to a language. I guess it depends on how loudly each language is calling to you and to what depth you want to learn them. My current language
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Join me in the crowded streets of dull possibility – Billy-Ray Belcourt
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- Blue Belt
- Posts: 519
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- Languages: English (N), German, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean
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Re: Ancestry DNA language list
The "DNA language" would have to account for at least 10% of my ancestry for me to seriously consider learning it. I havent done a DNA test yet though.
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- språker
- Yellow Belt
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- Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
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Re: Ancestry DNA language list
Then I should get going with Finnish! I did a MyHeritage DNA-test in the spring last year, and found out that I (unknowingly) am about 11% Finnish. I don't know any Finnish relatives though.lichtrausch wrote:The "DNA language" would have to account for at least 10% of my ancestry for me to seriously consider learning it. I havent done a DNA test yet though.
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- Black Belt - 2nd Dan
- Posts: 2618
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French (C)
English (C)
Spanish (A2)
Lithuanian - x 3224
Re: Ancestry DNA language list
I have a Lithuanian surname which means "earthman" and the word "earth" can be traced back to Proto-Indoeuropean, including some reconstructions, of course. Another grand-father descends from a line of red-haired peasants from the Black Forest, almost all of Southern Germany being Celtic about 2000 years ago. The rest - the genetic admix - would be German(ic).
There is only one way of honouring all of them in one go: studying Proto-Indoeuropean.
There is only one way of honouring all of them in one go: studying Proto-Indoeuropean.
For learning materials on Proto-Indo-European, visit Academia PrIsca:
https://academiaprisca.org/
These are some of the most interesting recent publications:
Modern Indo-European self-learning course (Vol. 1 published; Vol. 2 on its way).
Proto-Indo-European lexicon (updated every 1-2 years for the past 20 years).
Automatic dictionary-translator.
Modern Indo-European syntax.
A Song of Sheep and Horses: on Proto-Indo-European dialectalization
FLEXIE: Proto-Indo-European conjugator.
A Grammar of Modern Indo-European (outdated).
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- White Belt
- Posts: 19
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- Languages: English (N), Spanish (Heritage-Advanced), Italian (Low-Intermediate), Sicilian (Passive-working on it), Latin (High Beginner) Old English (Beginner)
- x 42
Re: Ancestry DNA language list
Kraut wrote:I have a Lithuanian surname which means "earthman" and the word "earth" can be traced back to Proto-Indoeuropean, including some reconstructions, of course. Another grand-father descends from a line of red-haired peasants from the Black Forest, almost all of Southern Germany being Celtic about 2000 years ago. The rest - the genetic admix - would be German(ic).
There is only one way of honouring all of them in one go: studying Proto-Indoeuropean.For learning materials on Proto-Indo-European, visit Academia PrIsca:
https://academiaprisca.org/
These are some of the most interesting recent publications:
Modern Indo-European self-learning course (Vol. 1 published; Vol. 2 on its way).
Proto-Indo-European lexicon (updated every 1-2 years for the past 20 years).
Automatic dictionary-translator.
Modern Indo-European syntax.
A Song of Sheep and Horses: on Proto-Indo-European dialectalization
FLEXIE: Proto-Indo-European conjugator.
A Grammar of Modern Indo-European (outdated).
I did a lot of work with PIE in grad school. It’s actually super interesting to compare root words across the IE family. Too bad there’s no literature from that period.
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