historical glottometry

Historical Glottometry grew out of the observation that a large number of language families 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 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,{{rp|173}} 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 developed by Neogrammarians in the 19th century.

The fundamental principles of Historical Glottometry include the following:Source: [https://hg.hypotheses.org/tutorial A tutorial on Historical Glottometry], by Kalyan & François.

1. each subgroup is defined by exclusively shared innovations (a principle first expressed by Leskien [1876]), i.e. linguistic synapomorphies;
2. subgroups are allowed to intersect (as expected under the Wave model);
3. 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.{{rp|68–72}}

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, 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. The [https://hg.hypotheses.org/case-studies homepage of Historical Glottometry] includes [https://hg.hypotheses.org/files/2014/10/NV-New-glottometric-diagram.png an example of a glottometric diagram], based on a study of the Torres–Banks linkage in Vanuatu.

Glottometric results can also be displayed in the form of Neighbornets,{{rp|179}} or of glottometric maps.{{rp|72}}

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 from Vanuatu (François 2014, 2017; Kalyan & François 2018);
• on Sogeram languages, a subgroup of the Madang family from Papua New Guinea (Daniels et al. 2019);
• on the dialects of Boni, a subgroup of Cushitic languages from Kenya and Somalia (Elias 2019);
• on Arabic dialects of Egypt and Sudan (Leddy-Cecere 2021);
• on Numic languages, a subgroup of Uto-Aztecan languages from North America (Rannap 2017);
• on Enlhet–Enenlhet languages, a group of languages spoken in Paraguay (van Gysel 2017);
• on early Germanic languages (Agee 2018);
• on the dialects of Old English (Den Hertog 2024).

Jacques & List (2019){{Cite journal |last1=Jacques |first1=Guillaume |author-link1=Guillaume Jacques |last2=List |first2=Johann-Mattis |author-link2=Johann-Mattis List |date= 2019 |title= Why we need tree models in linguistic reconstruction (and when we should apply them) |journal=Journal of Historical Linguistics |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=128–167 |doi=10.1075/jhl.17008.mat |hdl=21.11116/0000-0004-4D2E-4 |s2cid=52220491 |issn= 1875-6719|hdl-access=free }} show that the concept of incomplete lineage sorting can be applied to account for non-treelike phenomena in language evolution. Kalyan and François (2019) concur that "Historical Glottometry does not challenge the family tree model once incomplete lineage sorting has been taken into account"Kalyan & François (2019).{{rp|174}} – provided the internal variation discussed in the analysis includes the geographical (dialectal) dimension.{{rp|169}}

• Comparative method
• Dialectology
• Dialectometry
• Genetic relationship (linguistics)
• Linkage (linguistics)
• Wave model

• [https://hg.hypotheses.org/ Homepage of Historical glottometry], including a tutorial and a bibliography.
• [https://marama.huma-num.fr/Glotto/ Historical glottometry online analyzer], a free tool allowing users to upload their own historical data, perform glottometric calculations, and generate a glottometric map.

{{Reflist|2|}}

; Main references

• {{Citation

| last = François

| first = Alexandre

| author-link =

| contribution = Trees, Waves and Linkages: Models of Language Diversification

| editor1-last = Bowern

| editor1-first = Claire

| editor2-last = Evans

| editor2-first = Bethwyn

| title = The Routledge Handbook of Historical Linguistics

| series=

| pages = 161–189

| publisher = Routledge

| place = London

| year = 2014

| isbn = 978-0-41552-789-7

| contribution-url = https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00874726/

| ref = linkage

}}.

• {{Citation

| last1 = Kalyan

| first1 = Siva

| author1-link =

| last2 = François

| first2 = Alexandre

| author2-link =

| contribution = Freeing the Comparative Method from the tree model: A framework for Historical Glottometry

| editor1-last = Kikusawa

| editor1-first = Ritsuko

| editor2-last = Reid

| editor2-first = Laurie

| title = Let's talk about trees: Tackling Problems in Representing Phylogenic Relationships among Languages

| series= Senri Ethnological Studies, 98

| pages = 59–89

| publisher = National Museum of Ethnology

| place = Ōsaka

| year = 2018

| isbn =

| contribution-url = https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/Kalyan-Francois_2018_Freeing-Comparative-Method-from-Tree-model.pdf

| ref = KF18

}}.

; Other references

{{Columns-start|num=2|width=90%}}

• {{Cite journal

| publisher = San Jose State University

| last = Agee

| first = Joshua

| title = A Glottometric Subgrouping of the Early Germanic Languages

| journal = Master's Theses

| location = San Jose, CA, USA

| date = 2018

| doi = 10.31979/etd.69cp-8xz2

| url = https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/4926

| ref = Agee

| doi-access = free

}}

• {{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1075/jhl.17011.dan

| volume = 9

| issue = 1

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| last1 = Daniels

| first1 = Don

| last2 = Barth

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| last3 = Barth

| first3 = Wolfgang

| title = Subgrouping the Sogeram languages: A critical appraisal of Historical Glottometry

| journal = Journal of Historical Linguistics

| date = 2019

| s2cid = 198356030

| url = http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.17011.dan

| ref = sogeram

}}

• {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1163/18756719-12340332| issn = 1875-6719| volume = 84| issue = 4| pages = 470–495| last = Den Hertog| first = Simon| title = Subgrouping the Old English dialects using Historical Glottometry| journal = Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik| access-date = 2024-12-06| date = 2024 |ref = OE| url = https://brill.com/view/journals/abag/84/4/article-p470_2.xml| doi-access = free}}
• {{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1075/jhl.18009.eli

| volume = 9

| issue = 1

| pages = 70–91

| last = Elias

| first = Alexander

| title = Visualizing the Boni dialects with Historical Glottometry

| journal = Journal of Historical Linguistics

| date = 2019

| s2cid = 198404036

| url = http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.18009.eli

| ref = boni

}}

• {{Cite book

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|editor1= Jean-Léo Léonard

| last = François

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| chapter = Méthode comparative et chaînages linguistiques: Pour un modèle diffusionniste en généalogie des langues

| location = Louvain

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| date = 2017

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| ref= F17

}}

{{Column}}

• {{Cite journal

| doi = 10.1075/jhl.18019.kal

| issn = 2210-2116

| volume = 9

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| pages = 167–176

| last1 = Kalyan

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| last2 = François

| first2 = Alexandre

| title = When the waves meet the trees: A response to Jacques and List

| journal = Journal of Historical Linguistics

| date = 2019

| s2cid = 198707375

| url = https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/Kalyan-Francois_2019_When-Waves-meet-Trees.pdf

| ref = KFwaves

}}

• {{Cite book

| last1 = Kalyan

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| title = Understanding language genealogy: Alternatives to the tree model

| series = Journal of Historical Linguistics

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| url = https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/Kalyan-Francois-Hammarstrom_2019_Tree-model-Historical-linguistics_JHL_9-1_Special-issue_print.pdf

}}

• {{Cite journal| doi = 10.3390/languages6030123| issn = 2226-471X| volume = 6| issue = 3| pages = 123| last = Leddy-Cecere| first = Thomas A.| title = Interrogating the Egypto-Sudanic Arabic Connection| journal = Languages| date = 2021-07-23| ref = Sudan| doi-access = free}}
• {{Cite document

| publisher = Univ. of Tartu

| last = Rannap

| first = Jürgen

| title = Mathematical analysis of Numic languages

| location = Estonia

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| ref = numic

}}

• {{Cite document

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| last = Van Gysel

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| title = Temporal Predicative Particles in Sanapaná and the Enlhet-Enenlhet Language Family (Paraguay). A Descriptive and Comparative Study

| location = Netherlands

| date = 2017

| ref = enlhet

}}

{{Columns-end}}

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glottometry

Category:Comparative linguistics

Category:Quantitative linguistics