The chapter illustrates a method for historical comparison and phylogenetic reconstruction that uses syntactic characters; it presents various experiments based on this method and designed to test the widespread assumption that syntax does not carry a historical signal. It shows that formal syntactic evidence, coded as a set of parameters about the nominal syntax of languages from 6 or 7 distinct families in Eurasia, retrieves between 80% and 90% of the phylogenetic clusters established on the grounds of classical lexical methods (i.e. through cognacy judgments).

Formal Syntax as a Phylogenetic Method

Paola Crisma
2021-01-01

Abstract

The chapter illustrates a method for historical comparison and phylogenetic reconstruction that uses syntactic characters; it presents various experiments based on this method and designed to test the widespread assumption that syntax does not carry a historical signal. It shows that formal syntactic evidence, coded as a set of parameters about the nominal syntax of languages from 6 or 7 distinct families in Eurasia, retrieves between 80% and 90% of the phylogenetic clusters established on the grounds of classical lexical methods (i.e. through cognacy judgments).
2021
9781118732212
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11368/2974483
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