Explanations and brief glossary
A
Abductive reasoning / Abduction is a form of logical inference that seeks the simplest and most likely explanation for an observed phenomenon. Unlike deduction, which guarantees a logically certain conclusion, and induction, which generalizes from specific observations, abduction starts with an incomplete set of observations and proceeds to the most plausible explanatory hypothesis. In everyday reasoning, abduction is often described as "inference to the best explanation."
Abstraction — (lat. abstractio) in its main sense is a conceptual process by which general rules and concepts are derived from the usage and classification of specific examples, literal ("real" or "concrete") signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" is the product of this process—a concept that acts as a super-categorical noun for all subordinate concepts, and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category.
Affirmation — in logic, the union of the subject and predicate of a proposition.
A.D. — Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord).
AMOVA - Analysis of molecular variation [Excoffier 1992].
Analogy — (from Greek ἀναλογία, analogia, "proportion") is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another (the target), or a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. In a narrower sense, analogy is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as opposed to deduction, induction, and abduction, where at least one of the premises or the conclusion is general. The word analogy can also refer to the relation between the source and the target themselves, which is often, though not necessarily, a similarity, as in the biological notion of analogy
Antinomy — (Greek ἀντί, antí, "against, in opposition to," and νόμος, nómos, "law") literally means the mutual incompatibility, real or apparent, of two laws. It is a term used in logic and epistemology, particularly in the philosophy of Kant and Roberto Unger.
Argument — in logic and philosophy, an argument is a series of statements typically used to persuade someone of something or to present reasons for accepting a conclusion. The general form of an argument in a natural language is that of premises (typically in the form of propositions, statements or sentences) in support of a claim: the conclusion. The structure of some arguments can also be set out in a formal language, and formally defined "arguments" can be made independently of natural language arguments, as in math, logic, and computer science.
Argumentation is the process of presenting reasons (arguments) with the intention of changing the beliefs or convictions of another party (an audience). Such reasons may include references to experience, more general and seemingly reliable principles, an accepted system of beliefs, tradition or intuition, common sense or taste, etc.
A.H. — After Hijra. The Hijri year or era is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar, beginning its count from 622 ce, the year of the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Yathrib (later Medina), an event known as the Hijra.
Axiom — As defined in classic philosophy, is a statement (in mathematics often shown in symbolic form) that is so evident or well-established, that it is accepted without controversy or question.
B
Bayesian probability — is one interpretation of the concept of probability. In contrast to interpreting probability as frequency or propensity of some phenomenon, Bayesian probability is a quantity that we assign to represent a state of knowledge, or a state of belief. In the Bayesian view, a probability is assigned to a hypothesis, whereas under frequentist inference, a hypothesis is typically tested without being assigned a probability.
B.C. — Before Christ.
B.C.E. — Before the Common Era.
B.P. — Before Present.
C
C.E. — Common Era.
A Clan / Kin / Genus is a primary form of social organization, representing a group of blood relatives descending from a common ancestor, who share a common household, possess common property, and are governed by elders. Unlike an ethnic group, which unites millions of people based on language, culture, and self-awareness, a clan is a small, local, strictly kinship-based community characteristic of primitive society. In Europe, the clan system existed during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages (5th–2nd millennia BCE) — among Celts, Germans, and Slavs; on the territory of Russia — among Scythians, Sarmatians, Finno-Ugric and Slavic tribes (4th–1st millennia BCE). The clan is the foundation for the formation of larger ethnic units — first the tribe (a union of several clans), then the "narodnost" and the ethnic group. Survivals of clan organization persisted among some peoples of Russia until the 20th century (e.g., clan communities among the peoples of the Caucasus, the Far North, and Siberia — Chechen teips, Nenets clans). Unlike a surname, which denotes a hereditary family name, a clan is a real social unit with common livelihood, property, and governance.
Classification (from Latin classis — category/class, and facere — to make) is a special case of applying the logical operation of dividing the scope of a concept. It represents a certain set of divisions (division of a class into types, division of those types further, and so on).
Concept — is an abstraction or generalization from experience or the result of a transformation of existing ideas.
A Country is a geographical territory with defined administrative borders, populated by people, and possessing sovereignty (full authority) either as part of another state or independently. Unlike an ethnic group, which unites people based on language, culture, and origin, a country emphasizes territorial and political community. In Europe, the first prototypes of countries (kingdoms, principalities) emerged in the early Middle Ages (5th–10th centuries); in Russia, the formation of a centralized country dates to the 15th–16th centuries (the reigns of Ivan III and Ivan the Terrible). A country may include one or many ethnic groups.
Culture is a set of material and spiritual values, norms, beliefs, customs, knowledge, and art created and transmitted in society from generation to generation. Unlike an ethnic group, which implies common origin and self-awareness, culture can be acquired by any person regardless of their background. The first centers of culture in Europe date to the Upper Paleolithic era (40–10 thousand years ago, cave painting); on the territory of Russia — to Paleolithic sites (Sungir, Kapova Cave, 30–15 thousand years ago). An ethnic group always has a culture, but culture also exists outside ethnic groups (e.g., professional or urban culture).
D
Deductive reasoning — also deductive logic, logical deduction or, informally, "top-down" logic, is the process of reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to reach a logically certain conclusion. It differs from inductive reasoning or abductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning links premises with conclusions. If all premises are true, the terms are clear, and the rules of deductive logic are followed, then the conclusion reached is necessarily true.
Definition — is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories, intensional definitions (which try to give the essence of a term) and extensional definitions (which list every single object that a term describes).
Disproof / Refutation is reasoning directed against a thesis in order to establish its falsehood (or sometimes its lack of proof). It demonstrates that the argument is unsound, that the premises are false, or that the conclusion does not follow from the premises.
DNA — deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that carries most of the genetic instructions used in the development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA is a nucleic acid; alongside proteins and carbohydrates, nucleic acids compose the three major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life. .
E
An Ethnos / Ethnic Group is a stable, historically formed community of people united by common traits such as language, culture, shared historical memory, a myth of common origin, and a sense of uniqueness (ethnic self-awareness). Members of an ethnic group feel their belonging to this group and distinguish themselves from other similar communities. The term was introduced into scholarly usage and mentioned in its modern sense in the 1870s by the German ethnologist and geographer Wilhelm Heiden.
F
Fact — is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability—that is, whether it can be demonstrated to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement (by experiments or other means).
G
Generalization — is a concept in the inductive sense of that word, or an extension of the concept to less-specific criteria. Generalizations posit the existence of a domain or set of elements, as well as one or more common characteristics shared by those elements (thus creating a conceptual model). As such, they are the essential basis of all valid deductive inferences.
Government is a set of institutions and officials that exercise executive authority and the daily administration of a country. Unlike the state as a permanent system of power, government refers to the specific body of agencies (ministries, departments) that operate within the law and are typically replaced through elections or appointments. The first forms of government in Europe appeared in ancient city-states (5th century BCE, the Council of Five Hundred in Athens); in Russia — as the Boyar Duma (10th–11th centuries) and the prikazy (16th century). The modern distinction: the state is permanent, government is temporary.
H
Haplotype diversity — haplotype diversity calculated by the formula:
and ' Pi' - Haplotype frequency of the type ' i' in the sample.
Haplotype variances - a dispersion of haplotypes.
Historical Ethnic Community (Intermediate between Tribe and Nation) — this historical type of ethnic community occupies an intermediate position between a tribe and a nation. It emerges from the fusion of related tribes but has not yet reached the degree of cultural-linguistic and economic consolidation characteristic of a nation. Unlike the generic concept of an ethnic group, this term refers to a specific stage of ethnic development, typically associated with early class societies and the formation of first states. In Europe, such communities developed in the early Middle Ages (5th–10th centuries: Old English, Old French, Old German communities); on the territory of Russia — in the 9th–16th centuries (the Old Russian community of this type, later its split into Great Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian communities). In Soviet ethnography, the term "narodnost (народность)" (used here as a Russian-specific concept) was also applied to small ethnic groups that did not establish their own statehood (e.g., the Chukchi, Nenets, Evenki).
Hypothesis - a hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words "hypothesis" and "theory" are often used synonymously, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research.
I
Induction (from Latin inducere — to lead, establish, infer) is a process of logical inference based on a transition from particular statements to general ones. Inductive reasoning connects particular premises with a conclusion not strictly through the laws of logic, but rather through certain factual, psychological, or mathematical considerations.
J
Judgment is a thought expressed by a declarative sentence that is either true or false. It affirms or denies something about an object, property, or relation.
L
Law — universal principles that describe the fundamental nature of something.
LCA — Last common ancestor.
Logic — (from the Ancient Greek: λογική, logike) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the use and study of valid reasoning.
M
Median haplotype — an averaged haplotype. The standard deviation of the number of repeats among all the chromosomes of the sample and the founder haplotype.
Microsatellite variances - dispersion of short tandem repeats (microsatellites), calculated according to the formula by Kayser 1997.
Modal haplotype (Founder haplotype) — ancestral haplotype of groups of samples, the founder haplotype.
MRCA (TMRCA) — Most recent common ancestor (Time to a MRCA).
N
A Nation is a historically formed community of people that can be understood in two main senses. In the civic (political) sense — it is the totality of citizens of one state regardless of their ethnic origin (e.g., American nation, French nation). In the ethnic sense — it is the highest stage of ethnic group development, characterized by developed economic ties, a unified territory, a literary language, culture, and stable national self-awareness. Unlike an ethnic group as a generic concept, a nation (in the ethnic sense) implies a higher level of socio-economic and political consolidation. The first civic nations in Europe formed in the late 18th–19th centuries (USA, France after the 1789 revolution); ethnic nations — in Germany and Italy in the 19th century. In Russia, the formation of the nation in the ethnic sense (the Russian nation) dates to the second half of the 19th century (the era of Great Reforms of Alexander II), and in the civic sense — to the late 20th–early 21st century (the modern Russian nation as the multinational people of the Russian Federation, enshrined in the 1993 Constitution).
Nationality / Ethnic affiliation refers to a person's belonging to a specific nation or ethnic group, recognized by the individual themselves and acknowledged by others. In a broad sense, nationality is synonymous with ethnic affiliation. Unlike an ethnic group as an objective community (language, culture, origin), nationality emphasizes subjective self-identification: a person identifies themselves with a particular ethnic group. In Europe, the modern concept of nationality became established in the 19th century under the influence of the principle of national self-determination; in Russia — after the 1897 census, which first recorded native language as an indirect indicator of nationality. During the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, nationality was officially recorded in passports (in the USSR until the 1990s; in Russia until 1997). Unlike citizenship (a political-legal bond with a state), nationality reflects cultural-historical identity and does not necessarily coincide with place of birth or residence.
O
Objection — in informal logic an objection (also called expostulation or refutation), is a reason arguing against a premise, lemma, or main contention. An objection to an objection is known as a rebuttal.
Occam's razor — is a problem-solving principle attributed to William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347). The principle can be interpreted as: Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.
P
Paradigm — in science and epistemology, is a distinct concept or thought pattern.
Paradox — is a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true (or wrong at the same time). Some logical paradoxes are known to be invalid arguments but are still valuable in promoting critical thinking.
Paralogy (from Greek παραλογισμός — false reasoning) is an accidental, unconscious, or unintentional logical error in thinking (in proof, argument, or dialogue), arising from a violation of the laws or rules of logic and leading to an erroneous conclusion. Unlike sophism, which is a deliberate trick, paralogy is an honest mistake.
People / Nation / Folk is a polysemous term that can denote: (1) the population of a country (a civic community), (2) an ethnic group (a historical-cultural community), or (3) the lower social classes as opposed to the elite. In the first sense, "people" is close to the concept of "nation" as a political community. Unlike an ethnic group, which necessarily requires language, self-awareness, and a myth of origin, "people" in the broad sense can include different ethnic groups united by territory and state. In Europe, the formation of peoples as political communities is associated with the era of the French Revolution (late 18th century); in Russia — with the Patriotic War of 1812 and the reforms of the 19th century. The use of the word "people" to mean "ethnic group" (Russian people, French people) is widespread in everyday speech and literature.
A Position / Statement is a logical unit of some proposition — a basic assertive claim put forward for consideration, argument, or proof. In a theory or argument, statements serve as building blocks for reasoning.
Presumption — an assumption taken as a probable.
Proof — a proof is sufficient evidence or an argument for the truth of a proposition. The concept is applied in a variety of disciplines, with both the nature of the evidence or justification and the criteria for sufficiency being area-dependent. In the area of oral and written communication such as conversation, dialog, rhetoric, etc., a proof is a persuasive perlocutionary speech act, which demonstrates the truth of a proposition. In any area of mathematics defined by its assumptions or axioms, a proof is an argument establishing a theorem of that area via accepted rules of inference starting from those axioms and other previously established theorems. The subject of logic, in particular proof theory, formalizes and studies the notion of formal proof. In the areas of epistemology and theology, the notion of justification plays approximately the role of proof, while in jurisprudence the corresponding term is evidence, with burden of proof as a concept common to both philosophy and law.
Proposition — is used to refer to some or all of the following: the primary bearers of truth-value, the objects of belief and other "propositional attitudes" (i.e., what is believed, doubted, etc.), the referents of that-clauses and the meanings of declarative sentences.
R
A Race is a historically formed group of humanity united by common hereditary biological characteristics (skin color, eye shape, skull shape, hair type, blood type, etc.), arising from the adaptation of populations to different natural and climatic conditions. Unlike an ethnic group, which is based on language, culture, self-awareness, and historical memory, race unites people exclusively by biological rather than social or cultural traits. Modern science distinguishes three or four major races (Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australoid), between which there are no clear boundaries due to centuries of intermixing. Races were finally formed during the Upper Paleolithic era (40–15 thousand years ago) — Caucasoids in Europe and Western Asia, Mongoloids in Central and East Asia, Negroids in Africa. On the territory of modern Russia, the Caucasoid race has historically predominated, but representatives of the Mongoloid race (indigenous peoples of Siberia, Buryatia, Kalmykia) and mixed types also live there. Racial differences have no relation to the level of cultural development, intelligence, or social organization; an ethnic group, unlike a race, can change with the shift of language and culture.
S
Semantics — (from Ancient Greek: σημαντικόςsēmantikós, "significant") is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, like words, phrases, signs, and symbols, and what they stand for; their denotation.
S.E. — Standard Error.
Sophism — is a term with several related meanings. (1) In ancient Greece, sophism referred to a method of teaching practiced by the Sophists — a category of itinerant teachers who specialized in using the techniques of philosophy and rhetoric to teach arete ("excellence" or "virtue"), predominantly to young statesmen and nobility. (2) In logic and rhetoric, sophism is a deliberately fallacious argument or reasoning trick, often presented as valid, intended to deceive or to demonstrate intellectual superiority. Unlike a paralogism (an unintentional logical error), a sophism is a conscious violation of the rules of logic. (3) In medieval universities, sophismata were non-standard logical problems or puzzles, often with multiple solutions, serving as teaching tools and precursors to modern collections of exercises.
A State is a special organization of political power, equipped with an administrative apparatus, a system of laws, judicial and law enforcement bodies, an army, and territory with defined borders. Unlike an ethnic group, which is based on cultural-linguistic kinship, a state rests on legal and authoritative mechanisms. The first states in Europe emerged in antiquity (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, 8th–1st centuries BCE); in Russia — in the 9th–10th centuries (Kyivan Rus'). A state may be mono-ethnic or multi-national, but its sovereignty does not depend on the presence of a common ethnic origin among its citizens.
A Surname / Family Name is a hereditary clan name indicating a person's belonging to a specific family or lineage. In Europe, surnames began to form in the 12th–15th centuries; in Russia, in the 16th–18th centuries (among nobles and merchants first), while peasants acquired them permanently after the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Passed down from generation to generation, the surname emphasizes continuity of kinship, common origin, and historical memory. Unlike an ethnic group, the surname serves to identify an individual social unit and often carries information about ancestors' occupations, locations, or personal traits.
Syllogism — (Greek: συλλογισμόςsyllogismos, "conclusion, inference") is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true.
T
Tautology — in logic, a tautology (from the Greek word ταυτολογία) is a formula that is true in every possible interpretation.
Td (Tc) - Coalescent time.
A Tribe is a type of ethnic community characteristic of the primitive communal system, representing a union of several clans bound by common territory, language, customs, cults, and kinship relations. Unlike an ethnic group as a stable historical community (which can exist at different stages of development), a tribe is an earlier, archaic form of ethnic organization based on the principle of kinship rather than territorial or civic unity. In Europe, tribes existed during the Bronze and Iron Ages (Celtic, Germanic, Slavic tribes, 2nd millennium BCE — 1st millennium CE); on the territory of Russia — Scythian, Sarmatian, Finno-Ugric, and Slavic tribes (1st millennium BCE — 1st millennium CE). The transition from tribe to "narodnost" occurs with the emergence of the state: for example, the East Slavic tribes (Polianians, Drevlians, Krivichs) united into the Old Russian "narodnost" in the 9th–10th centuries.
Truth — is a concept most often used to mean in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal.
Theorem — is a statement that has been proven on the basis of previously established statements, such as other theorems—and generally accepted statements, such as axioms.
Theory — is a contemplative and rational type of abstract or generalizing thinking, or the results of such thinking.
V
Verification (from Latin verificatio — proof, confirmation) is the establishment of the truth or empirical meaningfulness of scientific statements. It is the process of checking a hypothesis, theory, or factual claim against observable evidence or established facts. In logical positivism, the principle of verification was proposed as a criterion for distinguishing meaningful statements from metaphysical or nonsensical ones.
ΑΩ
π - Nucleotide diversity [Nei 1981, Holsinger 1996].
Links:
The general concepts of DNA genealogy