Hokan I: A review of comparative studies

Mikhail Zhivlov (Russian State University for the Humanities / HSE University, Moscow; zhivlov@yandex.ru)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 22/1-2, 2024 - p.162-188

Abstract: The article reviews the history of Hokan studies, from the formulation of the Hokan hypothesis by Dixon & Kroeber in 1912–1913 to the present day. Despite more than a hundred years of research, there is yet no consensus on the validity of the Hokan hypothesis. The article argues that one of the reasons for this is the fact that many attempts to compare Hokan languages used a non-standard methodology, in which the study stops at listing the observed sound correspondences, instead of the classical comparative method, which requires a search for complementary distributions and a comprehensive reconstruction of protophonology.

Keywords: comparative method, Hokan languages, Native American languages, genealogical classification of languages

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