Phonotactic Diversity Predicts the Time Depth of the World’s Language Families

Taraka Rama

PLOS ONE, 2013, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: The ASJP (Automated Similarity Judgment Program) described an automated, lexical similarity-based method for dating the world’s language groups using 52 archaeological, epigraphic and historical calibration date points. The present paper describes a new automated dating method, based on phonotactic diversity. Unlike ASJP, our method does not require any information on the internal classification of a language group. Also, the method can use all the available word lists for a language and its dialects eschewing the debate on ‘language’ vs. ‘dialect’. We further combine these dates and provide a new baseline which, to our knowledge, is the best one. We make a systematic comparison of our method, ASJP’s dating procedure, and combined dates. We predict time depths for world’s language families and sub-families using this new baseline. Finally, we explain our results in the model of language change given by Nettle.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0063238

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063238

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