Historical Glottometry
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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 Glottometry
include
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 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
; 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 * . * . ; Other references * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Historical linguistics Comparative linguistics Quantitative linguistics