Sumerian is a language isolate.[2][12][13][14] Ever since decipherment, it has been the subject of much effort to relate it to a wide variety of languages. Because it has a peculiar prestige as the most ancient written language, proposals for linguistic affinity sometimes have a nationalistic background. Such proposals enjoy virtually no support amongst linguists because of their unverifiability.[15] Sumerian was at one time widely held to be an Indo-European language, but that view later came to be almost universally rejected.[16]
A few examples of proposed linguistic affiliations include:
Sumerian is a language isolate.[2][12][13][14] Ever since decipherment, it has been the subject of much effort to relate it to a wide variety of languages. Because it has a peculiar prestige as the most ancient written language, proposals for linguistic affinity sometimes have a nationalistic background. Such proposals enjoy virtually no support amongst linguists because of their unverifiability.[15] Sumerian was at one time widely held to be an Indo-European language, but that view later came to be almost universally rejected.[16]
A few examples of proposed linguistic affiliations include: