Toward the Decipherment of Harappan (2022)

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu

17 pointsHooke5 comments

A question that’s equally interesting to me is the Harappan language itself.

David McAlpin et al have presented compelling evidence that Brahui is a sibling language to Elamite. To me, the most interesting outcome would be finding that Harappan is another lost member of that family.

Exactly. Considering that Brahui is a Dravidian language, I always wondered how can regions so disjointed (Pakistan and South India separated by at least a few thousands of kilometres) have a common origin.

I think the current hypothesis is that it was a migration from central or eastern India

> Considering that Brahui is a Dravidian language

David McAlpin made a very strong case for Brahui *not* being a Dravidian language, but rather descended from the proto-elamite language family. He showed how Proto dravidian and Proto-elamite could have descended from the same parent language - he calls this Proto Zagrosian.

It's a very interesting take and I am personally convinced that he's on the right track.

Will leave this here for people who might want to look at a comprehensive phd thesis on this matter. I personally found the reasoning very agreeable.

https://www.academia.edu/105134798/A_Partial_Decipherment_of...

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