Language Classification: History and Method

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Figures, tables, and charts......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
1.1 Introduction......Page 13
1.2 Evidence and criteria......Page 16
1.3 Setting the stage......Page 17
1.4 Classification, but of what?......Page 19
1.5 Similarity vs. proof of language relationships......Page 22
1.6 What drives linguistic diversification?......Page 23
1.8 Conclusion......Page 24
2.2 The rise of the comparative method......Page 25
2.3 The Dutch scholars......Page 27
2.5 The Scythian hypothesis and the foundation of Indo-European......Page 30
2.6 Other luminaries of the eighteenth century......Page 35
2.7 The emergence of Sanskrit......Page 38
2.8 Sound correspondences......Page 40
2.9 Conclusion......Page 43
3.1 Introduction......Page 44
3.2 Jones’ game plan......Page 46
3.3 The “philologer” passage......Page 48
3.4 Jones’ failings......Page 49
3.5 Jones’ methods......Page 53
3.6 Conclusions......Page 58
4.2 Kraus......Page 60
4.3 Gyarmathi......Page 61
4.4 Hervas y Panduro......Page 62
4.5 Adelung......Page 64
4.6 Vater......Page 65
4.8 Rask......Page 66
4.10 Humboldt......Page 71
4.11 Bopp......Page 73
4.12 Schleicher......Page 78
4.13 Neogrammarians and their contemporaries......Page 79
4.13.1 Anonymous (1866), Muller (1861), and Garnett (1894[1874])......Page 80
4.13.4 Hovelacque......Page 81
4.13.6 Gabelentz......Page 82
4.13.7 Meillet......Page 83
4.14 Conclusions......Page 84
5.2 Hittite......Page 86
5.3 Armenian......Page 92
5.4 Venetic......Page 95
5.5 Conclusion......Page 97
6.1 Introduction......Page 99
6.2 Finno-Ugric and Uralic......Page 100
6.3 Semitic......Page 106
6.4 Austronesian......Page 109
6.5 Dravidian......Page 120
6.6 Sino-Tibetan......Page 124
6.7 American Indian language families......Page 126
6.7.2 Algonquian......Page 127
6.7.3 Athabaskan......Page 129
6.7.5 Mayan......Page 130
6.8 Africa......Page 132
6.9 Australia......Page 157
6.9.1 History of language classification in Australia......Page 158
6.9.2 How Australian languages have been classified......Page 168
6.10 Conclusions......Page 173
7.1 Introduction......Page 174
7.2 Lexical comparison......Page 177
7.2.1 Basic vocabulary......Page 178
7.2.2 Glottochronology......Page 179
7.2.3 Multilateral comparison......Page 180
7.3 Sound correspondences......Page 184
7.4 Grammatical evidence......Page 188
7.4.1 \"Submerged features\"......Page 189
7.4.2 Meillet......Page 193
7.4.3 Greenberg\'s use of grammatical evidence......Page 194
7.4.4 Cautions in the interpretations of “shared aberrancy”/“submerged features”......Page 196
7.4.5 Nichols’ use of grammatical and other evidence in distant genetic relationships......Page 198
7.4.6 Additional cautions in morphological comparisons......Page 201
7.4.7 Positional analysis......Page 204
7.4.8 Another red herring: reconstruction as proof of relationship......Page 205
7.5 Borrowing......Page 206
7.6 Semantic constraints......Page 207
7.7 Onomatopoeia......Page 208
7.8 Sound symbolism......Page 209
7.9 Nursery forms......Page 210
7.11 Chance similarities......Page 212
7.13 No non-linguistic evidence......Page 217
7.14 Erroneous morphological analysis......Page 218
7.15 Non-cognates......Page 219
7.15.2 Neglect of known history......Page 220
7.16 Spurious forms......Page 221
7.17 A single etymon as evidence for multiple cognate sets......Page 222
7.18 “Word families” or “oblique cognates”......Page 223
7.19 Pronouns and proposals of distant relationship......Page 224
7.19.1 Amerind pronoun arguments......Page 227
7.19.2 Some history......Page 228
7.19.3 Proposed explanations of the American Indian pronoun patterns......Page 229
7.20 Conclusion......Page 234
8.1 Introduction......Page 236
8.2 Background......Page 237
8.3 Inner form......Page 238
8.4.2 Adelung and glottogonic thought......Page 239
8.4.4 Bopp......Page 240
8.5 The fate of “glottogonic” thought......Page 241
8.6 Duponceau......Page 242
8.7 Wilhelm von Humboldt......Page 243
8.8 Conclusion......Page 245
9.1 Introduction......Page 246
9.2 Altaic......Page 247
9.3 Ural-Altaic......Page 253
9.4 Nostratic......Page 255
9.4.1.1 “Descriptive” forms......Page 258
9.4.1.4 Non-corresponding sound correspondences8......Page 259
9.4.1.7 Diffused forms......Page 261
9.4.2 Evaluation of the strongest lexical sets......Page 262
9.4.3 K&S forms......Page 266
9.5 Eurasiatic......Page 276
9.6 Amerind......Page 278
9.6.1 Specific problems with Amerind......Page 282
9.6.2 Is Japanese Amerind?......Page 288
9.7 Na-Dene......Page 292
9.7.1 Beyond Na-Dene......Page 295
9.8 Dravidian external connections......Page 297
9.8.2 Dravidian–Uralic......Page 298
9.9 Indo-Pacific......Page 299
9.10 Conclusions......Page 308
10.1 Beyond the comparative method?......Page 309
10.2 Nichols’ approach......Page 310
10.2.1 “Descent groups”......Page 312
10.2.2.1 Misassignment of “zone” status......Page 314
10.2.2.2 Problems of language representatives......Page 316
10.2.2.3 The double-dipping problem......Page 317
10.2.2.4 Challenges to the existence of spread zones (and accretion zones)......Page 318
10.2.3 Typological classes and the problem of stability......Page 321
10.2.4 Binary splits......Page 328
10.2.5 Calculation of time depths......Page 329
10.3 Punctuated equilibrium......Page 330
10.3.1 Punctuated equilibrium in biology......Page 332
10.3.2 The view of human society......Page 333
10.3.4 The problem of equilibrium without diffusion......Page 334
10.3.5 Diffusion in punctuation......Page 335
10.3.6 A caution about “convergence”......Page 336
10.3.8 Conclusions concerning punctuated equlibrium......Page 337
10.4 The attacks on family-tree diagrams......Page 338
10.5 Conclusions......Page 341
11.1 Introduction......Page 342
11.2 Ecological risk......Page 344
11.2.1 Difficulties with the linguistic–economic link......Page 345
11.2.3 Difficulties from non-ecological influences on language distribution......Page 346
11.2.5 Conclusions to Nettle’s ecological risk approach......Page 348
11.3 The farming/language dispersal model......Page 349
11.3.1 Agriculture and population stability......Page 350
11.3.2.1 Exceptions and other “processes”......Page 351
11.3.2.2 Linguistic diversity in agricultural zones......Page 352
11.3.2.3 Small languages and big languages in the same territory......Page 355
11.3.3 Independent events?......Page 356
11.3.4 Is the New World different?......Page 357
11.3.5 Application of the model: the case for and against Uto-Aztecan......Page 359
11.4 Social factors......Page 362
11.4.2 Language and social identity......Page 363
11.5 Speculations about Kinds of societies and linguistic complexity......Page 369
11.6 Conclusions......Page 374
12.1 Introduction......Page 376
12.2 Background......Page 377
12.3 Methodological issues......Page 378
12.3.1 Global etymologies: the “strong” cases......Page 379
12.3.2 The criticisms......Page 382
12.4.1 Nursery words......Page 388
12.4.2 Onomatopoeia......Page 389
12.5 The Futility of modern lexical comparisons as evidence of the first human language(s)......Page 391
12.6.1 Functional–typological accounts......Page 399
12.6.2 Simple-to-complex......Page 401
12.8 What of the structure of the earliest human language(s)?......Page 402
12.9 Conclusions......Page 404
13.1 Past, present, and future......Page 406
Appendix: Hypothesized distant\rgenetic relationships......Page 416
References......Page 428
Index......Page 520