Figure 4.7: Origin and diffusion of four major language families in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Figure 4.7: Origin and diffusion of four major language families in the Eastern Hemisphere. The early diffusion of Indo-European speech to the west and north probably occurred in conjunction with the diffusion of agriculture from the Middle Eastern center, as did the early spread of the Afro-Asiatic family. As these and other groups advanced, certain linguistic families retreated to refuges in remote places, where they hold out to the present day. Sources, dates, and routes are mostly speculative.

(Sources: Kranta, 1988; Renfrew, 1989.)