KUKU

KU ScholarWorks

  • myKU
  • Email
  • Enroll & Pay
  • KU Directory
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Slavic, German, and Eurasian Studies
    • Slavic Linguistics
    • View Item
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Slavic, German, and Eurasian Studies
    • Slavic Linguistics
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Family tree and or map-like approaches to Slavic languages?

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    redd_greenberg_ucb_2010jan08.pdf (1.718Mb)
    Issue Date
    2010-02-12
    Author
    Redd, Alan J.
    Greenberg, Marc L.
    Type
    Presentation
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Lexicostatistics is decades old, but newer techniques for computational approaches to historical linguistics have gained new attention with the rise of more sophisticated methods of data handling. Thus, for example, Gray and Atkinson (2003) claim to have established, using lexicostatistics and a Bayesian (MCMC) model, an authoritative Stammbaum for the Indo-European language family, including absolute chronologies of its branching. Others have argued that such methods, while valid for biology, cannot yield authoritative dates for language data (Atkinson 2009: 128). The present paper examines a smaller subset of languages—Slavic—using new lexicostatistical methods in attempt to compare the computational results with received analyses that are closer to the present. We assume that examining a group of languages closer in time to the present, where the splits are more easily verifiable, allows testing of quantifiable methods. If a close fit can be found between a lexicostatistical approach and traditional analysis in Slavic, it should allow extension to greater time depths and larger families such as Indo-European. The present paper applies several methods to two corpora, one the Slavic subset of Indo-European in Dyen, Kruskal and Black (1992) and the Slavic text-token set in Mańczak 2004.

    References

    Atkinson, Quentin D. 2009. Review of Language Classification by Numbers. By April McMahon and Robert McMahon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp xvii, 265. Diachonica 26/1: 125–133. Dyen, Isidore, Joseph B. Kruskal, and Paul Black. 1992. An Indoeuropean Classification: A Lexicostatistical Experiment. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. Gray, Russell D. and Quentin D. Atkinson. 2003. Language-Tree Divergence Times Support the Anatolian Theory of Indo-European Origin. Nature 426: 435–439. Mańczak, Witold. 2004. Przedhistoryczne migracje słowian i pochodzenie języka staro-cerkiewno-słowianskiego. Cracow: PAU.
    Description
    The file consists of the presenters' raw notes and the PowerPoint presentation delivered at the "Slavic Languages: Time and Contingency” conference, UC Berkeley 12–13 Feb. 2010.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/17911
    Collections
    • Slavic Linguistics [70]
    Citation
    Alan J. Redd (Anthropology) & Marc L. Greenberg (Slavic), University of Kansas, "Family tree and or map-like approaches to Slavic languages?" PowerPoint presentation delivered at conference “Slavic Languages: Time and Contingency”, UC Berkeley 12–13 Feb. 2010.

    Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


    We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.


    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    Browse

    All of KU ScholarWorksCommunities & CollectionsThis Collection

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    The University of Kansas
      Contact KU ScholarWorks
    Lawrence, KS | Maps
     
    • Academics
    • Admission
    • Alumni
    • Athletics
    • Campuses
    • Giving
    • Jobs

    The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

     Contact KU
    Lawrence, KS | Maps