In the 1980’s, Starostin contributed his original “Hypothesis of ChineseCaucasian Super Language Family” and supported the hypothesis in vocabulary, phonology and morphology. However, there were numerous problems in his supporting materials, for example, a much broader comparative space than necessary caused by polymorphism to one sense and loose semantic divergence, little consideration on historical background, faulty citation of documents, no strict corresponding phonetic requirements to equivalents and whatever. Moreover, compared with Sagart’s Hypothesis of ChineseSouth Island Language Family, the two hypotheses offered great distinctions in research approach. However, since diverse hypotheses often occur in the world of historical comparative linguistics, a hypothesis not widely accepted doesn’t mean it has been abandoned for a new hypothesis needs prolonged exploration before it is accepted.

historical comparative linguistics; Starostin; Hypothesis of ChineseCaucasian Super Language Family