Historical Glottometry is a method used in
historical linguistics
Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:
# to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages
# ...
. It is a quantitative,
non-cladistic approach to
language subgrouping.
The aim of Historical Glottometry (HG) is to address the limitations of the
tree model
In historical linguistics, the tree model (also Stammbaum, genetic, or cladistic model) is a model of the evolution of languages analogous to the concept of a family tree, particularly a phylogenetic tree in the biological evolution of specie ...
when applied to
dialect continua and
linkages. It acknowledges that the genealogical structure of a linkage typically consists of entangled subgroups, and provides ways to reconstruct that internal structure by measuring the relative strength of these subgroups.
This approach was developed by
Alexandre François (
CNRS
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...
) and Siva Kalyan (
ANU
, image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg
, caption=Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE
, ...
).
[ François (2014).][ François (2017).][ Kalyan & François (2018).] While the method was initially applied to
Oceanic languages
The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...
, in recent years it has been applied to a much broader range of language families.
Rationale
Historical Glottometry grew out of the observation that a large number of
language families
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in his ...
in the world form
linkages (a term coined by
Malcolm Ross), i.e. they evolved out of former
dialect continua in which historical innovations tend to overlap. Such linkages do not conform with the
Tree model
In historical linguistics, the tree model (also Stammbaum, genetic, or cladistic model) is a model of the evolution of languages analogous to the concept of a family tree, particularly a phylogenetic tree in the biological evolution of specie ...
often used in historical linguistics, which presupposes that innovations should be nested. This common situation is better approached using the
Wave model.
Inspired by
dialectometry,
the aim of Historical Glottometry is to provide an alternative,
non-cladistic approach to
language genealogy, while remaining true to the principles of the
Comparative method
In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...
developed by
Neogrammarians
The Neogrammarians (German: ''Junggrammatiker'', 'young grammarians') were a German school of linguists, originally at the University of Leipzig, in the late 19th century who proposed the Neogrammarian hypothesis of the regularity of sound change. ...
in the 19th century.
Principles of the method
The fundamental principles of Historical Glottometry include the following:
# each
subgroup
In group theory, a branch of mathematics, given a group ''G'' under a binary operation ∗, a subset ''H'' of ''G'' is called a subgroup of ''G'' if ''H'' also forms a group under the operation ∗. More precisely, ''H'' is a subgrou ...
is defined by ''exclusively shared innovations'' (a principle first expressed by
Leskien 876, i.e. linguistic
synapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to hav ...
;
# subgroups are allowed to
intersect
Intersection or intersect may refer to:
* Intersection in mathematics, including:
** Intersection (set theory), the set of elements common to some collection of sets
** Intersection (geometry)
** Intersection theory
* Intersection (road), a pl ...
(as expected under the
Wave model);
# the “strength” of each subgroup is measured on a continuous scale (rather than subgroups simply being absent or present). That strength is assessed using two ratings, named ''cohesiveness'' and ''subgroupiness''.
Glottometric diagrams
One of the outputs of Historical Glottometry takes the form of a “glottometric diagram”. Such diagrams are analogous to the
isogloss maps used in
dialectology Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their asso ...
, except that each isogloss refers not to a single innovation but to a set of languages defined by one or more exclusively-shared innovations — that is, a genealogical subgroup.
The glottometric diagram represents graphically the strength of each subgroup. Thus, the contour's thickness can be made proportional to the rate of “cohesiveness” or “subgroupiness” calculated for that subgroup. Th
homepage of Historical Glottometryinclude
an example of a glottometric diagram based on a study of the
Torres–Banks linkage in
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
.
Glottometric results can also be displayed in the form of
Neighbornets,
or of ''glottometric maps''.
Applications to particular language families
Several studies have been conducted, partly or entirely within the framework of Historical glottometry – including the following:
* on the
Torres–Banks linkage, a group of
Oceanic languages
The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...
from
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
( François 2014, 2017
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; Kalyan & François 2018);
* on
Sogeram languages
The Sogeram languages are a family of languages in the Madang stock of New Guinea. They are named after the Sogeram River.Usher, Timothy. 2020Sogeram River ''New Guinea World''.
In earlier classifications, such as that of Wurm, most of the Soger ...
, a subgroup of the
Madang family from
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
( Daniels ''et al.'' 2019);
* on the dialects of
Boni Boni may refer to:
Places
* Bone state, a vassal state of the government of Celebes, Dutch East Indies
* Boni MRT Station, a train station in Manila, Philippines
* Boni, Benin, an arrondissement in the Collines department of Benin state
* Boni (d ...
, a subgroup of
Cushitic languages
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As ...
from
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
and
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
( Elias 2019);
* on
Arabic dialects of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
and
Sudan ( Leddy-Cecere 2021);
* on
Numic languages, a subgroup of
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...
from
North America ( Rannap 2017);
* on
Enlhet–Enenlhet languages, a group of languages spoken in
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
( van Gysel 2017);
* on early
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...
( Agee 2018).
Historical glottometry and ''incomplete lineage sorting''
Jacques & List (2019)
show that the concept of ''
incomplete lineage sorting
Incomplete lineage sorting, also termed hemiplasy, deep coalescence, retention of ancestral polymorphism, or trans-species polymorphism, describes a phenomenon in population genetics when ancestral gene copies fail to coalesce (looking backwards i ...
'' can be applied to account for non-treelike phenomena in language evolution. Kalyan and
François
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, King ...
(2019) concur that "Historical Glottometry does not challenge the family tree model once ''incomplete lineage sorting'' has been taken into account"
[ Kalyan & François (2019).] – provided the internal variation discussed in the analysis includes the
geographical (dialectal) dimension.
See also
*
Comparative method
In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...
*
Dialectology Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , '' -logia'') is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their asso ...
*
Dialectometry
*
Genetic relationship (linguistics)
Two languages have a genetic relationship, and belong to the same language family, if both are descended from a common ancestor, or one is descended from the other.
The term and the process of language evolution are independent of, and not reliant ...
*
Linkage (linguistics)
In historical linguistics, a linkage is a network of related dialects or languages that formed from a gradual diffusion and differentiation of a proto-language.
The term was introduced by Malcolm Ross in his study of Western Oceanic languages ...
*
Wave model
External links
Homepage of Historical glottometry including a tutorial and a bibliography.
Historical glottometry online analyzer a free tool allowing users to upload their own historical data, perform glottometric calculations, and generate a glottometric map.
Notes
References
; Main references
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; Other references
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{{Authority control
Historical linguistics
Comparative linguistics
Quantitative linguistics