Descent and Diffusion in Language Diversification: A Study of Western Numic Dialectology

Abstract

The two branches of Western Numic are the Mono and Northern Paiute languages. We argue that this taxonomic structure did not arise as usually assumed in historical linguistics, through increased di erentiation brought about by changes internal to each branch, but rather that di usion between Western and Central Numic played a crucial role in forming the Western Numic family tree. More generally, we suggest that di usion plays a greater role in language diversi cation than is usually recognized.

Behind the Mexican Mountains: Recent Developments and New Directions in Research on Uto‐Aztecan Languages

“…As Babel et al. note, diffusion of features had already been documented specifically for the Numic family (most recently in McLaughlin 2000); what this new research shows, however, is that diffusion did not involve a single phonological change, but rather a significant number of features across a well established boundary (Babel et al. forthcoming).…”

“…New diachronic research, as in the earliest Uto‐Aztecan tradition, continues to be driven by questions pertaining to the general mechanisms of linguistic change. An example of such a question is raised in Babel et al. (forthcoming): are shared innovations of related languages the result of descent from a common ancestor or rather the product of diffusion through already differentiated varieties?…”

Areal Sound Patterns: From Perceptual Magnets to Stone Soup

“…10 10 Diffusion of apparent regular sound changes leads one to question their usefulness in subgrouping. In a recent study of Western Numic dialects, Babel et al (2013) show that all In the discussion that follows, we will use the range of criteria in (1) to define areal sound patterns so as to ensure that the sound pattern in question is not likely to have resulted from (shared) inheritance, general linguistic tendencies, or chance. Though some of these criteria may prove too restrictive, eliminating some cases of areal sound patterns, they will provide us with a working base of areal patterns from which we may be able to extract interesting generalizations.…”

Geography and Spatial Analysis in Historical Linguistics

“…Haspelmath ; Bowern , ) illustrates the debate regarding the extent to which horizontal transmission influences linguistic history. Consensus in the field supports the continued use of the family tree model, which may indeed interact with spatial diffusion of linguistic material (as in Babel et al ), though to a more limited extent than suggested by Dixon (). Model simulations conducted by Currie, Greenhill, and Mace () further demonstrate that phylogenetic comparative methods are able to infer ancestral character states, even in the presence of horizontal transmission.…”