The Nostratic Languages

The Nostratic languages constitute a proposed language family that is at present extremely controversial among historical linguists. According to its proponents, Nostratic includes a high proportion of the language families of Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. The hypothetical ancestral language of the Nostratic family is called Proto-Nostratic, following standard linguistic practice. Proto-Nostratic would necessarily have been spoken at a time depth greater than the language families descended from it, which would place it toward the end of the Paleolithic period. Nostratic is sometimes called a macrofamily or a superfamily, to denote a language family that groups two or more other language families and is not (or not yet) generally accepted by those linguists who have concerned themselves with the question.