George Starostin
- Associate Professor, Chief Research Fellow:Faculty of Humanities / Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies
- George Starostin has been at HSE University since 2017.
Education and Degrees
- 2000
Candidate of Sciences* (PhD) in Languages of Ethnic Groups of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Natives of America and Australia
Russian State University for the Humanities
Thesis Title: Reconstruction of Proto-Dravidian phonology - 1997
Degree
Russian State University for the Humanities
* Candidate of Sciences
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, Candidate of Sciences belongs to ISCED level 8 - "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar. Candidate of Sciences allows its holders to reach the level of the Associate Professor.
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, Candidate of Sciences belongs to ISCED level 8 - "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar. Candidate of Sciences allows its holders to reach the level of the Associate Professor.
Continuing education / Professional retraining / Internships / Study abroad experience
Since 2017: External Professor, Santa Fe Institute (USA, New Mexico).
Courses (2023/2024)
- Comparative Linguistics (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 3 module)Eng
- History of Chinese Language (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 3 year, 1, 2 module)Eng
- Research Seminar Classical Chinese Texts (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 3 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Past Courses
Courses (2022/2023)
- Ancient Chinese (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Comparative Linguistics (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 3 module)Eng
- Comparative Linguistics (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 3 module)Eng
Courses (2021/2022)
- Language Geography of China (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Writing States of East and Southeast Asia: Past and Present (Minor; Faculty of Humanities; 3, 4 module)Rus
Courses (2019/2020)
Diachronic processes in the language (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 3 module)Eng
Books4
- Book Старостин Г. С. Языки Африки: опыт построения лексикостатистической классификации. Том III: Нило-сахарские языки. М. : Языки славянской культуры, 2017.
- Book Старостин Г. С. К истокам языкового разнообразия: десять бесед о сравнительно-историческом языкознании. М. : Дело, 2016.
- Book Старостин Г. С. Языки Африки: опыт построения лексикостатистической классификации. Том II: Восточносуданские языки. М. : Языки славянской культуры, 2014.
- Book Старостин Г. С. Языки Африки: опыт построения лексикостатистической классификации. Том I: Методология. Койсанские языки. М. : Языки славянской культуры, 2013.
Journal papers20
- Article Kassian A., Starostin G., Egorov I., Logunova E., Dybo A. Permutation test applied to lexical reconstructions partially supports the Altaic linguistic macrofamily // Evolutionary Human Sciences (United Kingdom). 2021. Vol. 3. Article 32. doi
- Article Kassian A. S., Zhivlov M., Starostin G., Trofimov A. A., Kocharov P. A., Kuritsyna A., Mikhail N. Saenko. Rapid radiation of the inner Indo-European languages: an advanced approach to Indo-European lexicostatistics // Linguistics. 2021. Vol. 59. No. 4. P. 949-979. doi
- Article Starostin G. Lexicostatistical Studies in East Sudanic II: The Case of Nyimang // Journal of Language Relationship. 2020. Vol. 18. No. 2. P. 111-125. doi
- Article Starostin G. Restoring “Nile-Nubian”: How to Balance Lexicostatistics and Etymology in Historical Research on Nubian Languages // Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies (USA). 2020. Vol. 7. P. 233-262. doi
- Article Starostin G. Chinese basic lexicon from a diachronic perspective: implications for lexicostatistics and glottochronology // Journal of Language Relationship. 2019. Vol. 17. No. 2. P. 153-176. doi
- Article Korotayev A., Borinskaya S., Starostin G., Meshcherina K. Evolution of Eurasian and African Family Systems, Cross-Cultural Research, Comparative Linguistics, and Deep History // Social Evolution & History. 2019. Vol. 18. No. 2. P. 286-312. doi
- Article Starostin G. Review of: Martin Pfeiffer: Kuṛux Historical Phonology Reconsidered. With a Reconstruction of Pre-Kuṛux-Malto Phonology and Copious Indo-Aryan and Munda Etymologies. Norderstedt: PublIQation Academic Publishing, 2018. // Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 2019. Vol. 82. No. 2. P. 375-377. doi
- Article Старостина А. Б., Старостин Г. С., Мазо О. М., Наний Л. О., Холкина Л. С. "Новые речи" Лу Цзя: опыт перевода и лингвофилологического комментирования // Шаги/Steps. 2018. № 4(1). С. 191-221. doi
- Article Starostin George. Lexicostatistical Studies in Khoisan I: The Ju-ǂHoan Relationship // Journal of Language Relationship. 2018. Vol. 16. No. 1-2. P. 19-61.
- Article Bhattacharya T., Retzlaff N., Blasi D., Croft W., Cysouw M., Hruschka D., Maddieson I., Muller L., Smith E., Stadler P., Starostin George, Youn H. Studying language evolution in the age of big data // Journal of Language Evolution. 2018. Vol. 3. No. 2. P. 94-129. doi
- Article Starostin G. Lexicostatistical Studies in East Sudanic I: On the genetic unity of Nubian-Nara-Tama // Journal of Language Relationship. 2017. No. 2. P. 87-113.
- Article Starostin G. From wordlists to proto-wordlists: reconstruction as «optimal selection» // Faits de langues. 2016. Vol. 47. No. 1. P. 177-200.
- Article Flegontov P., Changmai P., Zidkova A., Logacheva M. D., Altınışık N. E., Flegontova O., Gelfand M. S., Gerasimov E. S., Khrameeva E. E., Konovalova O. P., Neretina T., Nikolsky Y. V., Stepanova V. V., Starostin G., Travinsky I. V., Tříska M., Tříska P., Tatarinova T. V. Genomic study of the Ket: a Paleo-Eskimo-related ethnic group with significant ancient North Eurasian ancestry // Nature. 2016. No. 6. P. 1-12. doi
- Article Flegontov P., Kassian A., Thomas M. G., Fedchenko V., Changmai P., Starostin G. Pitfalls of the Geographic Population Structure (GPS) Approach Applied to Human Genetic History: A Case Study of Ashkenazi Jews // Genome Biology and Evolution. 2016. Vol. 8. No. 7. P. 2259-2265. doi
- Article Starostin G., Zhivlov M., Kassian A. The “Nostratic” roots of Indo-European: from Illich-Svitych to Dolgopolsky to future horizons // Slovo a Slovesnost. 2016. Vol. 77. No. 4. P. 392-415.
- Article Старостин Г. С. Древнекитайская поэтическая антология «Шицзин» и проблема лингвофилологического комментирования // Шаги/Steps. 2016. Т. 2. № 2/3. С. 7-39.
- Article Старостин Г. С. К вопросу о методологии языкового анализа древнекитайских текстов (ч. 2) // Вестник РГГУ. Серия: История. Филология. Культурология. Востоковедение. 2016. Т. 3. № 12. С. 93-116.
- Article Starostin G., Kassian A., Zhivlov M. Proto-Indo-European-Uralic Comparison from the Probabilistic Point of View // The Journal of Indo-European Studies. 2015. Vol. 43. No. 3/4. P. 301-347.
- Article Старостин Г. С., Касьян А. С. Новые методы в генеалогической классификации языков и лингвистической реконструкции // Шаги/Steps. 2015. С. 208-214.
- Article Старостин Г. С. К вопросу о методологии языкового анализа древнекитайских текстов (ч. 1) // Вестник РГГУ. Серия "Востоковедение. Африканистика". 2012. Т. 20(100). № 12. С. 216-248.
Collective volume papers3
- Chapter Starostin G. Typological Expectations and Historic Reality: Once Again on the Issue of Lexical Cognates between Indo-European and Uralic, in: Farnah: Indo-Iranian and Indo-European Studies in Honor of Sasha Lubotsky. NY : Beech Stave Press, 2018. Ch. 28. P. 327-334.
- Chapter Starostin G. Macrofamilies and agricultural lexicon: problems and perspectives, in: Language Dispersal Beyond Farming. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2017. P. 215-233.
- Chapter Старостин Г. С. К вопросу о происхождении центральнокойсанской (кхой) семьи языков // В кн.: Исследования по языкам Африки. Выпуск 6. Ключ-С, 2016. С. 249-259.
Conferences
2017
XIV Международная конференция африканистов (Москва). Presentation: К вопросу о роли фонологически сложных языков в дальнем сравнении: язык удук и нило-сахарская гипотеза.Editorial board membership
2009: Member of the Editorial Board, Вопросы языкового родства (Journal of Language Relationship).
George Starostin conducted a workshop on language evolution in ancient Chinese texts in Oxford
On 8–10 July 2019, Dr. George Starostin, chief research fellow at the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies, conducted an international workshop on “Tracing Language Evolution in Ancient Chinese Texts”, organized by Dr. Yegor Grebnev (research fellow at Merton College, Oxford University) and held at Oxford University China Centre.