Japhetic Theory

Japhetic Theory (Japhetidology) is a linguistic theory (the so-called New Linguistic Doctrine) formulated by Niko Marr between 1923 and 1934 concerning unified glottogonic processes (the origin and development of language).

Initially, the term "Japhetidology" denoted the research and investigation of the Japhetic languages, but it subsequently evolved into the designation for the scientific discipline studying world languages in their entirety. In this regard, it differs fundamentally from Indo-European studies, which, from the perspective of Japhetidology, investigates only the neoglottogonic period of languages. Such a divergence in the objects of study formed the basis for the fundamental difference between the methods of Japhetidology and those of historical-comparative linguistics. The failure to account for this distinction continuously generated a significant theoretical vacuum surrounding the Japhetic theory.

The Japhetic theory is predicated upon two primary postulates: first, that everything is determined by stages; and second, that everything is determined by strata or layers. The first postulate implies that at each stage of linguistic development, human cognition underwent fundamental transformations multiple times, with one stage of thinking supplanting another. Within each stage, changes progressed in an evolutionary manner, whereas the transition to a new stage occurred revolutionarily, through the destruction of old cognitive norms and transition to new ones. These stadial shifts were so profound that new generations appeared as if they had arrived from a different world compared to the old ones. While cognition left no permanent trace during these shifts, language emerged as the phenomenon that preserved the imprint of these changes in the form of historical layers. It is precisely through these layers that the stages of the stadial development of cognition can be discerned.

Naturally, language transformed in parallel with cognition; however, unlike cognition, when transitioning to a new stage, adapting to a new cognitive system, and reclassifying its elements according to a new paradigm, language retained elements of its previous state—deposits and stratifications. It is strictly through these stratifications that one can comprehend the nature of language and cognition during the preceding stage of stadial development. Consequently, the analysis of linguistic phenomena entails the consideration of word meanings according to their respective stages, rather than merely deriving them horizontally from a single synchronous plane.

Niko Marr's second postulate asserts that at the early stages of societal development, human collectives were organized not by the blood kinship of their members, but according to the nature of the production in which they were engaged. Collectives developed in accordance with the principle of production, consolidating in such a way as to create specific strata within a new mode of production. Subsequently, these strata evolved into larger formations, termed "productive-social groupings." During the analysis of modern languages, as many layers (strata, deposits) are discovered within them as there were distinct collectives participating in their creation. Loanwords represent facts of the later, neoglottogonic period or later-formed interlinguistic regularities, which differ fundamentally from the regularities established in previous stages.

Directly connected to Japhetidology are the paleontological method, paleophonetics, and paleosemantics, all of which must be comprehended specifically within the context of Marr's general theory.

In its time, Marr's theory was heavily criticized from the standpoints of both historical-comparative linguistics and general linguistics. This criticism became particularly severe from 1950 onward, with the explicit aim of overcoming Marrism and defending the established principles of traditional linguistics. A special discussion dedicated to these issues took place on the pages of the newspaper Pravda in 1950. The discussion was initiated by Georgian linguist Arnold Chikobava, and Joseph Stalin subsequently personally participated in it.

Literature: Абаев В. И., Н. Я. Марр (1864–1934), «Вопросы языкознания», 1960, №1; Вопросы теории и истории языка в свете трудов И. В. Сталина по языкознанию, М., 1952; Гухман М. М., Типологические исследования, «Теоретические проблемы советского языкознания», М., 1968; Марр Н. Я., Избранные работы, т. I–V М.–Л., 1933–37; Мещанинов И. И., Введение в яфетидологию, Л., 1929; მისივე, Члены предложения и части речи, М.–Л., 1945; Поливанов Е. Д., Избр. работы. Статьи по общему языкознанию, М., 1968.

M. Babukhadia