Chance CVC Correspondences in Unrelated Languages

Bender, M. Lionel

doi:10.2307/411436

Cited by 20 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Here, we revisit the statistical permutation principle (Ringe, 1992) to calculate the threshold for identifying recurrent sound correspondences among potential correspondences detected in assembled words. This principle is derived from the previous estimations of the degree of similarity that two (or more) languages are expected to show by chance (Bender, 1969; Oswalt, 1971; Ringe, 1993; Kessler, 2001). The logic behind the principle is as follows.…”

Section: Statistical Principles and Example Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Many Is Enough?—Statistical Principles for Lexicostatistics

Zhang

Gong

2016

Front. Psychol.

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Lexicostatistics has been applied in linguistics to inform phylogenetic relations among languages. There are two important yet not well-studied parameters in this approach: the conventional size of vocabulary list to collect potentially true cognates and the minimum matching instances required to confirm a recurrent sound correspondence. Here, we derive two statistical principles from stochastic theorems to quantify these parameters. These principles validate the practice of using the Swadesh 100- and 200-word lists to indicate degree of relatedness between languages, and enable a frequency-based, dynamic threshold to detect recurrent sound correspondences. Using statistical tests, we further evaluate the generality of the Swadesh 100-word list compared to the Swadesh 200-word list and other 100-word lists sampled randomly from the Swadesh 200-word list. All these provide mathematical support for applying lexicostatistics in historical and comparative linguistics.

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Section: Statistical Principles and Example Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Many Is Enough?—Statistical Principles for Lexicostatistics

Zhang

Gong

2016

Front. Psychol.

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“…Mathematical tools have been applied to problems in historical linguistics with increasing sophistication in recent years (Bender 1969, Embleton 1986, Ringe 1992, Kessler 2001, Zuraw 2003, McMahon & McMahon 2005, Holman et al 2008, Gray et al 2009. However most of these studies have been principally concerned with issues of language classification (and secondarily with issues of sub-classification and dating).…”

Section: Comparing Comparative Lexicamentioning

confidence: 98%

On calculating the reliability of the comparative method at long and medium distances

Ratcliffe

2012

JHL

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The high degree of contradiction and incompatibility between two independently produced Afroasiatic comparative lexica (Ehret 1995, Orel & Stolbova 1995 calls into question the reliability of the comparative method at deep time depths. The discrepancy could only have arisen if one or both sources contain a large number of chance or spurious matches. This article first documents the discrepancy between the two comparative lexica, and then attempts to explain it. The central proposal is that the evaluation of a proposed reconstruction must go beyond qualitative evaluations of individual proposed cognate sets and incorporate quantitative tools for evaluating the probable degree of chance matches within the reconstruction as a whole.

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“…Much of the introductory section of his paper is preoccupied with this topic, in particular with reference to the claims of Bender (1969) regarding the number of "CVC matches" that chance can be expected to produce. His statements (2012:5) leave no room for doubt: various writers have shown that chance can produce no more than 2 4 "CVC matches," and that the probability of chance "CVCVC matches" is even lower: "just one criteria-consistent match for a CVCVC term rules out chance, with over 96% con dence," a conclusion that, if accepted, would force us to interpret much of the material in table 1 as evidence for previously unrecognized linguistic relationships spanning the globe.…”

Section: The Linguistic Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Some Recent Proposals Concerning the Classification of the Austronesian Languages

Blust¹

2014

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The comparative method is a relatively well-defined tool that has been employed successfully in the classification of languages for two centuries. In recent years, there have been several proposals about the classification of the Austronesian languages that violate basic principles of method. Because some of these have been advanced by scholars who are well established in other branches of linguistics, they have acquired an influence that is out of proportion to their scientific merit. This paper addresses three of these proposals: the Austronesian-Ongan hypothesis of Juliette Blevins, the Quechua-Austronesian hypothesis of E. M. Kempler-Cohen, and the higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai-Kadai by Laurent Sagart. By carefully delimiting the analytic operations that belong to the comparative method and those that do not, it is shown that each of these scholars makes use of illicit operations to justify inferences about the classification of Austronesian languages, whether this involves claims about relationships that are external to the family or internal to it.

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Chance CVC Correspondences in Unrelated Languages

Cited by 20 publications

References 6 publications

How Many Is Enough?—Statistical Principles for Lexicostatistics

How Many Is Enough?—Statistical Principles for Lexicostatistics

On calculating the reliability of the comparative method at long and medium distances

Some Recent Proposals Concerning the Classification of the Austronesian Languages

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