ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to review and evaluate the set of evidence that has so far appeared in support of a genetic relationship for the Austric family of languages, here defined as constituting the AN family as its eastern branch and the AA languages as its western branch. It thereby excludes consideration of evidence which suggests that the Tai-Kadai family of languages might be included as part of the family and avoids the obfuscation that discussion of the Austro-Tai hypothesis has had on the basic question of the genetic relationship of AA and AN.
