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Analogies, Transfer, and Adaptation. Interdisciplinary Research on Evolutionary Dynamics in Biology and Linguistics

Analogies, Transfer, and Adaptation. Interdisciplinary Research on Evolutionary Dynamics in Biology and Linguistics

Talk, held at the Musée de l'Homme (2016-05-09).

Johann-Mattis List

May 09, 2016
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  1. Analogies, Transfer, and Adaptation
    Interdisciplinary Research on Evolutionary Dynamics in Biology and
    Linguistics
    Johann-Mattis List
    DFG research fellow
    Centre des recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale
    Team Adaptation, Integration, Reticulation, Evolution
    EHESS and UPMC, Paris
    2016/05/09
    1 / 47

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  2. Language History
    Language History
    2 / 47

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  3. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophilia
    August Schleicher
    (1821-1868)
    3 / 47

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  4. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophilia
    August Schleicher
    (1821-1868)
    “These assumptions, which follow
    logically from the results of our re-
    search, can be best illustrated by the
    image of a branching tree.” (Schle-
    icher 1853: 787)
    3 / 47

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  5. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophilia
    Schleicher (1853)
    4 / 47

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  6. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
    Johannes Schmidt
    (1843-1901)
    5 / 47

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  7. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
    Johannes Schmidt
    (1843-1901)
    “You can turn it as you want, but as long
    as you stick to the idea that the his-
    torically attested languages have been
    developing by multiple furcations of an
    ancestral language, that is, as long as
    you assume that there is a Stammbaum
    [family tree] of the Indo-European lan-
    guages, you will never be able to explain
    all facts which have been assembled in
    a scientifically satisfying way.” (Schmidt
    1872: 17, my translation)
    5 / 47

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  8. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
    Johannes Schmidt
    (1843-1901)
    “I want to replace [the tree] by the im-
    age of a wave that spreads out from
    the center in concentric circles be-
    coming weaker and weaker the far-
    ther they get away from the center.”
    (Schmidt 1872: 27, my translation)
    6 / 47

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  9. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
    Schmidt (1875)
    7 / 47

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  10. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
    Meillet (1908)
    Hirt (1905)
    Bloomfield (1933)
    Bonfante (1931)
    7 / 47

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  11. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    8 / 47

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  12. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    they are difficult to
    reconstruct............
    8 / 47

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  13. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    they are difficult to
    reconstruct............
    languages do not always
    split............ .......... ............
    ............
    8 / 47

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  14. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    they are difficult to
    reconstruct............
    languages do not always
    split............ .......... ............
    ............
    they are boring, since they only
    model the vertical aspects of
    language history ............
    8 / 47

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  15. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    they are difficult to
    reconstruct............
    languages do not always
    split............ .......... ............
    ............
    they are boring, since they only
    model the vertical aspects of
    language history ............
    Waves are bad, because
    nobody knows how to
    reconstruct them
    8 / 47

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  16. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    they are difficult to
    reconstruct............
    languages do not always
    split............ .......... ............
    ............
    they are boring, since they only
    model the vertical aspects of
    language history ............
    Waves are bad, because
    nobody knows how to
    reconstruct them
    languages still diverge, even if
    not necessarily in split
    processes
    8 / 47

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  17. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Trees are bad, because...
    they are difficult to
    reconstruct............
    languages do not always
    split............ .......... ............
    ............
    they are boring, since they only
    model the vertical aspects of
    language history ............
    Waves are bad, because
    nobody knows how to
    reconstruct them
    languages still diverge, even if
    not necessarily in split
    processes
    they are boring, since they only
    model the horizontal aspects of
    language history
    8 / 47

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  18. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Hugo Schuchardt
    (1842-1927)
    9 / 47

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  19. Language History Modeling Language History
    Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
    Hugo Schuchardt
    (1842-1927)
    “We connect the branches and twigs
    of the tree with countless horizon-
    tal lines and it ceases to be a tree.”
    (Schuchardt 1870 [1900]: 11)
    9 / 47

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  20. Language History Modeling Language History
    Phylogenetic Networks
    10 / 47

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  21. Language History Modeling Language History
    Phylogenetic Networks
    10 / 47

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  22. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    11 / 47

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  23. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    soːwel- sunːoː-
    SUN
    Germanic
    11 / 47

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  24. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    soːwel- sunːoː-
    SUN
    Germanic
    zɔnə
    SUN
    German
    suːl
    SUN
    Swedish
    11 / 47

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  25. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    soːwel- sunːoː-
    SUN
    Germanic
    soːl-
    SUN
    Romance
    zɔnə
    SUN
    German
    suːl
    SUN
    Swedish
    11 / 47

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  26. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    soːwel- sunːoː-
    SUN
    Germanic
    soːl-
    SUN
    soːlikul-
    SMALL SUN
    Romance
    zɔnə
    SUN
    German
    suːl
    SUN
    Swedish
    11 / 47

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  27. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    soːwel- sunːoː-
    SUN
    Germanic
    soːl-
    SUN
    soːlikul-
    SMALL SUN
    Romance
    solej
    SUN
    French
    sol
    SUN
    Spanish
    zɔnə
    SUN
    German
    suːl
    SUN
    Swedish
    11 / 47

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  28. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    'soh₂-wl◌̩
    - sh₂uˈen-
    SUN
    Indo-European
    soːwel- sunːoː-
    SUN
    Germanic
    soːl-
    SUN
    soːlikul-
    SMALL SUN
    Romance
    solej
    SUN
    French
    sol
    SUN
    Spanish
    zɔnə
    SUN
    German
    suːl
    SUN
    Swedish
    SEM
    ANTIC
    SHIFT
    M
    O
    RPH
    O
    LO
    G
    ICAL
    CH
    AN
    G
    E
    M
    O
    R
    PH
    O
    LO
    G
    ICA
    L
    CH
    A
    N
    G
    E
    MORPHOLOGICAL
    CHANGE
    MORPHOLOGICAL
    CHANGE
    11 / 47

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  29. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    arbre
    12 / 47

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  30. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    form
    "meaning"
    12 / 47

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  31. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    arbre
    12 / 47

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  32. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    12 / 47

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  33. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    arbre
    MEANING
    FORM
    LANGUAGE
    12 / 47

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  34. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    FORM
    LANGUAGE
    MEANING
    arbre
    12 / 47

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  35. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    arbre
    MEANING
    FORM
    LANGUAGE
    MEANING
    FORM
    LANGUAGE
    12 / 47

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  36. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    SEMANTIC CHANGE
    MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE
    S
    T
    R
    A
    T
    IC
    C
    H
    A
    N
    G
    E
    Gévaudan (2007)
    12 / 47

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  37. Language History Lexical Change
    Lexical Change
    kop
    Kopf
    Kopf
    köpfen
    World
    Cup Welt-
    ccup
    Old High German Standard German
    MORPHOLOGICAL
    CHANGE
    SEMANTIC
    CHANGE
    SEMANTIC
    CHANGE
    STRATIC
    CHANGE
    MORPHOLOGICAL
    CHANGE
    12 / 47

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  38. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    13 / 47

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  39. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    l > j
    13 / 47

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  40. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘TONGUE’ liŋgua liŋgwa
    ‘MOON’ lu:na luna
    ‘SLOW’ lentus lento
    l > j
    13 / 47

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  41. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘TONGUE’ liŋgua liŋgwa
    ‘MOON’ lu:na luna
    ‘SLOW’ lentus lento
    l > j l > l
    13 / 47

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  42. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘TONGUE’ liŋgua liŋgwa
    ‘MOON’ lu:na luna
    ‘SLOW’ lentus lento
    l > j l > l
    l > j / p _
    13 / 47

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  43. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘TONGUE’ liŋgua liŋgwa
    ‘MOON’ lu:na luna
    ‘SLOW’ lentus lento
    l > j l > l
    l > j / p _
    Not sounds change, sound systems change (Bloomfield 1933)!
    13 / 47

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  44. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘TONGUE’ liŋgua liŋgwa
    ‘MOON’ lu:na luna
    ‘SLOW’ lentus lento
    l > j l > l
    l > j / p _
    Not sounds change, sound systems change (Bloomfield 1933)!
    Sound change depends on the context in which the sounds occur!
    13 / 47

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  45. Language History Sound Change
    Sound Change
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘FEATHER’ pluːma pjuma
    ‘FLAT’ plaːnus pjano
    ‘SQUARE’ plateːa pjaʦːa
    Meaning Latin Italian
    ‘TONGUE’ liŋgua liŋgwa
    ‘MOON’ lu:na luna
    ‘SLOW’ lentus lento
    l > j l > l
    l > j / p _
    Not sounds change, sound systems change (Bloomfield 1933)!
    Sound change depends on the context in which the sounds occur!
    Sound change largely follows irreversible patterns!
    13 / 47

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  46. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics
    Biological Approaches
    in
    Historical Linguistics
    14 / 47

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  47. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past
    The Geological Evidences
    of
    The Antiquity of Man
    with Remarks on Theories of
    The Origin of Species by Variation
    By Sir Charles Lyell
    London
    John Murray, Albemarle Street
    1863
    15 / 47

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  48. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past
    If we new not-
    hing of the existence
    of Latin, - if all
    historical documents
    previous to the fin-
    teenth century had
    been lost, - if tra-
    dition even was si-
    lent as to the former
    existance of a Ro-
    man empire, a me-
    re comparison of the
    Italian, Spanish,
    Portuguese, French,
    Wallachian, and
    Rhaetian dialects
    would enable us to
    say that at some
    time there must ha-
    ve been a language,
    from which these
    six modern dialects
    derive their origin
    in common.
    15 / 47

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  49. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Uniformitarianism (C. Lyell)
    16 / 47

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  50. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Uniformitarianism (C. Lyell)
    Uniformity of Change: Laws of change are uniform. They have
    applied in the past as they apply now and will apply in the future,
    no matter at which place.
    16 / 47

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  51. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Uniformitarianism (C. Lyell)
    Uniformity of Change: Laws of change are uniform. They have
    applied in the past as they apply now and will apply in the future,
    no matter at which place.
    Graduality of Change: Change proceeds gradually, not abrupt.
    16 / 47

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  52. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Uniformitarianism (C. Lyell)
    Uniformity of Change: Laws of change are uniform. They have
    applied in the past as they apply now and will apply in the future,
    no matter at which place.
    Graduality of Change: Change proceeds gradually, not abrupt.
    Abductive Reasoning: We can infer past events and processes
    by investigating patterns observed in the present, which becomes
    the “key to the interpretation of some mystery in the archives of
    remote ages” (Lyell 1830: 165)
    16 / 47

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  53. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Uniformitarianism (A. Schleicher)
    Language Change
    is a gradual process (Schleicher 1848: 25).
    is a law-like process (Schleicher 1848: 25).
    is a natural process which occurs in all languages (Schleicher
    1848: 25).
    universal process which occurs in all times (Schleicher
    1863[1873]: 10f).
    allows us to infer past processes and extinct languages by
    investigating the languages of the present (see Schleicher 1848:
    25).
    17 / 47

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  54. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Summary
    It was not the direct exchange of ideas that lead to the de-
    velopment of similar approaches in biology and linguistics,
    but the astonishing fact that scholars in both fields would
    at about the same time detect striking parallels between
    both disciplines, both regarding their theoretical founda-
    tions and the processes they were investigating.
    18 / 47

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  55. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Summary
    It was not the direct exchange of ideas that lead to the de-
    velopment of similar approaches in biology and linguistics,
    but the astonishing fact that scholars in both fields would
    at about the same time detect striking parallels between
    both disciplines, both regarding their theoretical founda-
    tions and the processes they were investigating.
    And linguists were the first to draw trees!
    18 / 47

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  56. Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
    Keys to the Past: Summary
    1700 1800
    1750 1850
    List et al. (in preparation)
    Stiernhielm's
    Lingua Nova
    1671
    Gallet's
    Arbre
    ca. 1800
    Darwin's
    Origins
    1859
    De Buffon's
    Table
    1755
    Schleicher's
    Stammbaum
    1853
    Darwin's
    Tree Sketch
    1837
    Lamarck's
    Tableaux
    1809
    Čelakovský's
    Rodový Kmen
    1853
    Rühling's
    Tabula
    1774
    Hicke's
    Affinitas
    1689
    Schottels's
    Tabelle
    1663
    19 / 47

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  57. 20 / 47

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  58. 20 / 47

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  59. 20 / 47

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  60. 20 / 47

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  61. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn
    “Indo-European and computational cladistics” (Ringe, Warnow and Taylor
    2002)
    “Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of
    Indo-European origin” (Gray und Atkinson 2003)
    “Language classification by numbers” (McMahon und McMahon 2005)
    “Curious Parallels and Curious Connections: Phylogenetic Thinking in
    Biology and Historical Linguistics” (Atkinson und Gray 2005)
    “Automated classification of the world’s languages” (Brown et al. 2008)
    “Indo-European languages tree by Levenshtein distance” (Serva and
    Petroni 2008)
    “Networks uncover hidden lexical borrowing in Indo-European language
    evolution” (Nelson-Sathi et al. 2011)
    21 / 47

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  62. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn
    “Indo-European and computational cladistics” (Ringe, Warnow and Taylor
    2002)
    “Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of
    Indo-European origin” (Gray und Atkinson 2003)
    “Language classification by numbers” (McMahon und McMahon 2005)
    “Curious Parallels and Curious Connections: Phylogenetic Thinking in
    Biology and Historical Linguistics” (Atkinson und Gray 2005)
    “Automated classification of the world’s languages” (Brown et al. 2008)
    “Indo-European languages tree by Levenshtein distance” (Serva and
    Petroni 2008)
    “Networks uncover hidden lexical borrowing in Indo-European language
    evolution” (Nelson-Sathi et al. 2011)
    21 / 47

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  63. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn: Words as Genes
    Basic Concept German ID English ID Italian ID French ID
    HAND Hand 1 hand 1 mano 2 main 2
    BLOOD Blut 3 blood 3 sangue 4 sang 4
    HEAD Kopf 5 head 6 testa 7 tête 7
    TOOTH Zahn 8 tooth 8 dente 8 dent 8
    TO SLEEP schlafen 9 sleep 9 dormir 10 dormir 10
    TO SAY sagen 11 say 11 dire 12 dire 12
    ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
    22 / 47

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  64. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn: Words as Genes
    Basic Concept German ID English ID Italian ID French ID
    HAND Hand 1 hand 1 mano 2 main 2
    BLOOD Blut 3 blood 3 sangue 4 sang 4
    HEAD Kopf 5 head 6 testa 7 tête 7
    TOOTH Zahn 8 tooth 8 dente 8 dent 8
    TO SLEEP schlafen 9 sleep 9 dormir 10 dormir 10
    TO SAY sagen 11 say 11 dire 12 dire 12
    ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
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  65. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn: Words as Genes
    ID Proto-Form Basic Concept German English Italian French
    1 PGM *xanda- HAND 1 1 0 0
    2 LAT mānus HAND 0 0 1 1
    3 PGM *blođa- BLOOD 1 1 0 0
    4 LAT sanguis BLOOD 0 0 1 1
    5 PGM *kuppa- HEAD 1 0 0 0
    6 PGM *xawbda- HEAD 0 1 0 0
    7 LAT tēsta HEAD 0 0 1 1
    8 PIE *h3
    dont- TOOTH 1 1 1 1
    9 PGM *slēpan- TO SLEEP 1 1 0 0
    10 LAT dormīre TO SLEEP 0 0 1 1
    11 PGM *sagjan- TO SAY 1 1 0 0
    12 LAT dīcere TO SAY 0 0 1 1
    ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
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  66. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn: Words as Genes
    English
    111
    German
    101
    French
    000
    Italian
    001
    101 001
    001
    + B
    − C
    +
    A
    Char. English German French Italian
    A 1 1 0 0
    B 1 0 0 0
    C 1 1 0 1
    22 / 47

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  67. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn: Sounds as Nuclein Bases
    Concept
    German
    English
    Italian
    French
    “HAND” G E I F
    Hand 0 1 2 3
    hand 1 0 2 3
    mano 2 2 0 2
    main 3 3 2 0
    “BLOOD” G E I F
    Blut 0 4 5 4
    blood 4 0 6 5
    sangue 5 6 0 2
    sang 4 5 2 0
    Edit Distances between Orthographic Entries
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  68. The Quantitative Turn
    The Quantitative Turn: Sounds as Nuclein Bases
    German English Italian French
    German 0 30 60 55
    English 30 0 60 50
    Italian 60 60 0 20
    French 55 50 20 0
    23 / 47

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  69. Analogies and Parallels
    Analogies and Parallels
    Parallels between Species and Languages (Pagel 2009)
    aspect species languages
    unit of replication gene word
    replication asexual und sexual
    reproduction
    learning
    speciation cladogenesis language split
    forces of change natural selection and
    genetic drift
    social selection and
    trends
    differentiation tree-like tree-like
    24 / 47

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  70. Analogies and Parallels
    Analogies and Parallels
    25 / 47

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  71. Analogies and Parallels
    Analogies and Parallels
    25 / 47

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  72. Analogies and Parallels
    Analogies and Parallels
    Differences between Species and Languages (Geisler & List 2013)
    Aspect Species Languages
    domain Popper’s World I Popper’s World III
    relation between
    form and function
    mechanical arbitrary
    origin monogenesis unclear
    sequence similarity universal (indepen-
    dent of species)
    language-specific
    differentiation tree-like network-like
    26 / 47

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  73. Differences
    Differences in the Alphabets
    27 / 47

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  74. Differences
    Differences in the Alphabets
    • universal • language-specific
    27 / 47

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  75. Differences
    Differences in the Alphabets
    • universal • language-specific
    • limited • widely varying
    27 / 47

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  76. Differences
    Differences in the Alphabets
    • universal • language-specific
    • limited • widely varying
    • constant • mutable
    27 / 47

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  77. Differences
    Differences in the Processes
    GENES <=> WORDS
    HOMOLOGS <=> COGNATES
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  78. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    The term homology was coined by Richard Owen (1804–1892),
    who distinguished ‘homologues’, as ‘the same organ in different
    animals under every variety of form and function’ (Owen 1843:
    379), from from ‘analogues’ as an ‘organ in one animal which has
    the same function as another part or organ in a different animal’
    (ibid.: 374).
    29 / 47

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  79. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    The term homology was coined by Richard Owen (1804–1892),
    who distinguished ‘homologues’, as ‘the same organ in different
    animals under every variety of form and function’ (Owen 1843:
    379), from from ‘analogues’ as an ‘organ in one animal which has
    the same function as another part or organ in a different animal’
    (ibid.: 374).
    Nowadays, it commonly denotes a ‘relationship of common descent
    between any entities, without further specification of the
    evolutionary scenario’ (Koonin 2005: 311).
    29 / 47

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  80. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    The term homology was coined by Richard Owen (1804–1892),
    who distinguished ‘homologues’, as ‘the same organ in different
    animals under every variety of form and function’ (Owen 1843:
    379), from from ‘analogues’ as an ‘organ in one animal which has
    the same function as another part or organ in a different animal’
    (ibid.: 374).
    Nowadays, it commonly denotes a ‘relationship of common descent
    between any entities, without further specification of the
    evolutionary scenario’ (Koonin 2005: 311).
    With respect to specific scenarios of common descent, molecular
    biologists characterize relationships between homologous genes
    further by distinguishing between orthology, paralogy, and
    xenology.
    29 / 47

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  81. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    B
    A C D
    duplication
    speciation
    lateral
    transfer
    D
    D
    orthologs
    paralogs
    xenologs
    B
    C
    D
    B
    A
    A
    B
    A B
    List (in press)
    30 / 47

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  82. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    Historical Relations
    Terminology
    Biology Linguistics
    common descent
    direct
    homology
    orthology
    cognacy....
    ?
    oblique
    cognacy
    indirect paralogy
    involving lateral
    transfer
    xenology ?
    Linguistics
    indirect cognate
    relation
    (oblique cognacy)
    cognate relation
    (cognacy)
    ?
    ?
    ?
    30 / 47

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  83. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    Historical Relations
    Terminology
    Biology Linguistics
    common descent
    direct
    homology
    orthology
    cognacy....
    ?
    oblique
    cognacy
    indirect paralogy
    involving lateral
    transfer
    xenology ?
    Linguistics
    direct cognate relation
    etymological relation
    indirect cognate
    relation
    (oblique cognacy)
    indirect etymological
    relation
    cognate relation
    (cognacy)
    List (2014)
    30 / 47

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  84. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    Relation Biol. Term continuity
    traditional notion of cognacy - + +/- +/-
    cognacy à la Swadesh - + +/- +
    direct cognate relation orthology + + +
    oblique cognate relation paralogy (?) + - +
    etymological relation homology +/- +/- +/-
    oblique etymological relation xenology - +/- +/-
    ... ... ... ... ...
    Stratic
    Morpho-
    logical
    Seman-
    tic
    List (in press)
    30 / 47

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  85. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Homology
    Italian
    dare
    French
    donner
    Indo-European
    *deh₃-
    *deh₃-no-
    Latin
    dare
    dōnum
    dōnāre
    Italian
    sole
    French
    soleil
    Swedish
    sol
    German
    Sonne
    Germanic
    *sōwel-
    *sunnō-
    Latin
    sol
    soliculus
    Indo-European
    *sóh₂-wl̩ -
    *sh₂én-
    A B
    List (in press)
    30 / 47

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  86. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Semantic Change
    hand
    arm
    foot
    day
    m
    eat
    animal
    day
    sand
    moon
    leg
    T₁
    31 / 47

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  87. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Semantic Change
    hand
    arm
    foot
    day
    m
    eat
    animal
    day
    sand
    moon
    leg
    T₁
    hand
    arm
    foot
    day
    m
    eat
    animal
    day
    sand
    moon
    leg
    T₂
    31 / 47

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  88. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Semantic Change
    hand
    arm
    foot
    day
    m
    eat
    animal
    day
    sand
    moon
    leg
    T₂
    ?
    ?
    ?
    31 / 47

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  89. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Semantic Change
    hand
    arm
    foot
    day
    m
    eat
    animal
    day
    sand
    moon
    leg
    T₂
    hand
    arm
    foot
    day
    m
    eat
    animal
    sun
    sand
    moon
    leg
    31 / 47

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  90. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Borrowing
    Of the 1,000 most frequent Latin words (Stefenelli 1992),
    32 / 47

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  91. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Borrowing
    Of the 1,000 most frequent Latin words (Stefenelli 1992),
    67% were directly inherited in at least one of the descendant
    languages of Latin,
    32 / 47

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  92. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Borrowing
    Of the 1,000 most frequent Latin words (Stefenelli 1992),
    67% were directly inherited in at least one of the descendant
    languages of Latin,
    14% were directly inherited in all descendant languages,
    32 / 47

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  93. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Borrowing
    Of the 1,000 most frequent Latin words (Stefenelli 1992),
    67% were directly inherited in at least one of the descendant
    languages of Latin,
    14% were directly inherited in all descendant languages,
    only 33% are completely lost,
    32 / 47

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  94. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Borrowing
    Of the 1,000 most frequent Latin words (Stefenelli 1992),
    67% were directly inherited in at least one of the descendant
    languages of Latin,
    14% were directly inherited in all descendant languages,
    only 33% are completely lost,
    about 50% of the words survive as borrowings from Latin in the
    descendant languages
    32 / 47

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  95. Differences
    Differences in the Processes: Borrowing
    Of the 1,000 most frequent Latin words (Stefenelli 1992),
    67% were directly inherited in at least one of the descendant
    languages of Latin,
    14% were directly inherited in all descendant languages,
    only 33% are completely lost,
    about 50% of the words survive as borrowings from Latin in the
    descendant languages
    Saying that languages evolve in tree-like processes is similar
    to saying that penguins walk: It may be true, but it’s only a
    part of the whole interesting story.
    32 / 47

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  96. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction
    Shifting the Paradigm
    33 / 47

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  97. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction New Parallels
    New Parallels
    If we sequence 61 human genomes, we will find more or less the same
    collection of about 30,000 genes in each individual. But if we sequence
    61 genomes of Escherichia coli (Lukjancenko et al. 2010)
    we find about 4,500 genes in each individual,
    we find 1,000 genes present in all genomes,
    we find about 18,000 different genes distributed among all
    genomes.
    34 / 47

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  98. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction New Parallels
    New Parallels
    Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic Evolution
    Eukaryotic populations generate tree-like divergence structures over
    time, while genome evolution in prokaryotes generates both tree-like
    and net-like components.
    Evolution and Language History
    Recalling the scores on borrowing frequency in the descendant
    languages of Latin, it seems obvious that language history shows a
    much closer resemblance to prokaryotic evolution than to eukaryotic
    evolution. When trying to apply methods from bioinformatics to
    linguistic problems, it seems therefore more fruitful to use those
    methods that explicitly deal with prokaryotic evolution.
    35 / 47

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  99. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks
    Biological Workflow (Dagan and Martin 2007, Dagan et al. 2008)
    1 collect phyletic pattern data (shared gene families) of the taxa that shall
    be investigated
    2 use gain-loss mapping techniques with different weighting models,
    allowing for different amounts of gain events to analyze how the gene
    families evolved along a given reference tree
    3 use ancestral genome sizes as an external criterion to determine the
    best weighting model
    4 assume that all patterns for which the best model yields more than one
    gain event result from lateral gene transfer
    5 reconstruct a minimal lateral network by connecting multiple gains for
    the same gene family by lateral edges
    36 / 47

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  100. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks
    Linguistic Workflow (Nelson-Sathi et al. 2011, List et al. 2014)
    1 collect phyletic pattern data (shared cognates) of the languages that shall
    be investigated
    2 use gain-loss mapping techniques with different weighting models,
    allowing for different amounts of to analyze how the cognates evolved
    along a given reference tree
    3 use ancestral vocabulary size distributions as an external criterion to
    determine the best weighting model
    4 allow for a substantial amount (5%) of parallel evolution
    5 assume that all patterns for which the best model yields more than one
    gain event result from lateral gene transfer
    6 reconstruct a minimal lateral network by connecting multiple gains of
    the same cognate by lateral edges
    37 / 47

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  101. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks: Gain-Loss Mapping
    38 / 47

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  102. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks: Gain-Loss Mapping
    -- Spanish
    --
    French
    --
    Italian
    Danish
    --
    English --
    German
    --
    38 / 47

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  103. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks: Gain-Loss Mapping
    -- Spanish
    --
    French
    --
    Italian
    Danish
    --
    English --
    German
    --
    38 / 47

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  104. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks: Gain-Loss Mapping
    -- Spanish
    --
    French
    --
    Italian
    Danish
    --
    English --
    German
    --
    38 / 47

    View Slide

  105. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Minimal Lateral Networks: Gain-Loss Mapping
    -- Spanish
    --
    French
    --
    Italian
    Danish
    --
    English --
    German
    --
    38 / 47

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  106. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Indo-European Data (List et al. 2014a)
    Data
    40 Indo-European languages (taken from the IELex, Dunn 2012)
    1190 cognate sets (207 semantic glosses)
    105 cognate sets contain known borrowings
    traditional reference tree, reflecting a very broad consensus, taken
    from Ethnologue (Lewis and Fennig 2013)
    39 / 47

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  107. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Indo-European Data (List et al. 2014a)
    Analysis
    bottom-up parsimony-based approach for gain-loss mapping using
    different weight ratios for gain and loss events
    modified analysis allows for multifurcating (polytomic) reference
    trees
    specific factor for parallel evolution was added to the evaluation
    procedure
    implementation as part of the LingPy Python library for quantitative
    tasks in historical linguistics (http://lingpy.org, Version 2.2,
    List et al. 2013)
    39 / 47

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  108. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Indo-European Data (List et al. 2014a)
    Results
    76 cognate sets correctly identified as borrowings
    31% of all cognate sets could not be properly explained by the
    reference tree
    17 out of 19 borrowings in English correctly identified
    well-known contact situations among major groups and languages
    were correctly identified
    39 / 47

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  109. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Indo-European Data (List et al. 2014a)
    39 / 47

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  110. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List et al. 2014b)
    .
    .
    ---Lánzhōu
    .
    Fùzhōu --
    .
    Xiāngtàn --
    .
    M
    ěixiàn
    --
    .
    H
    ongkong
    --
    .
    ---Wǔhàn
    .
    ---Běijīng
    .
    ---Kùnmíng
    .
    Hángzhōu
    --
    .
    Xiàmén --
    .
    ---Chéngdū
    .
    Sùzhōu
    --
    .
    Shànghǎi --
    .
    Táiběi --
    .
    ---Zhèngzhōu
    .
    Shèxiàn --
    .
    ---Nánjīng
    .
    ---Guìyáng
    .
    W
    énzhōu
    --
    .
    N
    ánníng
    --
    .
    Tūnxī --
    .
    ---Tiānjìn
    .
    Shāntóu --
    .
    ---Xīníng
    .
    ---Q
    īngdǎo
    .
    ---Ürüm
    qi
    .
    ---Píngyáo
    .
    Nánchàng --
    .
    ---Tàiyuán
    .
    Chángshā --
    .
    Hǎikǒu --
    .
    ---Héfèi
    .
    Jiàn'ǒu --
    .
    ---Yīnchuàn
    .
    ---Hohhot
    .
    Táoyuán --
    .
    ---Xī'ān
    .
    G
    uǎngzhōu
    --
    .
    ---Harbin
    .
    ---Jìnán
    .
    0
    .
    0
    .
    0
    .
    Inferred Links
    Reference tree of the Chinese dialects
    40 / 47

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  111. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List et al. 2014b)
    .
    .
    ---Lánzhōu
    .
    Fùzhōu --
    .
    Xiāngtàn --
    .
    M
    ěixiàn
    --
    .
    H
    ongkong
    --
    .
    ---Wǔhàn
    .
    ---Běijīng
    .
    ---Kùnmíng
    .
    Hángzhōu
    --
    .
    Xiàmén --
    .
    ---Chéngdū
    .
    Sùzhōu
    --
    .
    Shànghǎi --
    .
    Táiběi --
    .
    ---Zhèngzhōu
    .
    Shèxiàn --
    .
    ---Nánjīng
    .
    ---Guìyáng
    .
    W
    énzhōu
    --
    .
    N
    ánníng
    --
    .
    Tūnxī --
    .
    ---Tiānjìn
    .
    Shāntóu --
    .
    ---Xīníng
    .
    ---Q
    īngdǎo
    .
    ---Ürüm
    qi
    .
    ---Píngyáo
    .
    Nánchàng --
    .
    ---Tàiyuán
    .
    Chángshā --
    .
    Hǎikǒu --
    .
    ---Héfèi
    .
    Jiàn'ǒu --
    .
    ---Yīnchuàn
    .
    ---Hohhot
    .
    Táoyuán --
    .
    ---Xī'ān
    .
    G
    uǎngzhōu
    --
    .
    ---Harbin
    .
    ---Jìnán
    .
    0
    .
    0
    .
    0
    .
    Inferred Links
    MLN analysis, no borrowing allowed
    40 / 47

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  112. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List et al. 2014b)
    .
    .
    ---Lánzhōu
    .
    Fùzhōu --
    .
    Xiāngtàn --
    .
    M
    ěixiàn
    --
    .
    H
    ongkong
    --
    .
    ---Wǔhàn
    .
    ---Běijīng
    .
    ---Kùnmíng
    .
    Hángzhōu
    --
    .
    Xiàmén --
    .
    ---Chéngdū
    .
    Sùzhōu
    --
    .
    Shànghǎi --
    .
    Táiběi --
    .
    ---Zhèngzhōu
    .
    Shèxiàn --
    .
    ---Nánjīng
    .
    ---Guìyáng
    .
    W
    énzhōu
    --
    .
    N
    ánníng
    --
    .
    Tūnxī --
    .
    ---Tiānjìn
    .
    Shāntóu --
    .
    ---Xīníng
    .
    ---Q
    īngdǎo
    .
    ---Ürüm
    qi
    .
    ---Píngyáo
    .
    Nánchàng --
    .
    ---Tàiyuán
    .
    Chángshā --
    .
    Hǎikǒu --
    .
    ---Héfèi
    .
    Jiàn'ǒu --
    .
    ---Yīnchuàn
    .
    ---Hohhot
    .
    Táoyuán --
    .
    ---Xī'ān
    .
    G
    uǎngzhōu
    --
    .
    ---Harbin
    .
    ---Jìnán
    .
    1
    .
    4
    .
    8
    .
    Inferred Links
    MLN analysis, best fit of borrowing and inheritance
    40 / 47

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  113. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List et al. 2014b)
    .
    .
    Guānhuà
    .
    Xiàng
    .
    Mǐn
    .
    Yuè
    .

    .
    Jìn
    .
    Kèjiā
    .
    Gàn
    .
    Huī
    .
    1
    .
    2
    .
    3
    .
    4
    .
    5
    .
    6
    .
    7
    .
    8
    .
    9
    .
    10
    .
    11
    .
    12
    .
    13
    .
    14
    .
    15
    .
    16
    .
    17
    .
    18
    .
    19
    .
    20
    .
    21
    .
    22
    .
    23
    .
    24
    .
    25
    .
    26
    .
    27
    .
    28
    .
    29
    .
    30
    .
    31
    .
    32
    .
    33
    .
    34
    .
    35
    .
    36
    .
    37
    .
    38
    .
    39
    .
    40
    .
    1
    .
    Běijīng 北京
    .
    2
    .
    Chángshā 长沙
    .
    3
    .
    Chéngdū 成都
    .
    4
    .
    Fùzhōu 福州
    .
    5
    .
    Guǎngzhōu 广州
    .
    6
    .
    Guìyáng 贵阳
    .
    7
    .
    Harbin 哈尔滨
    .
    8
    .
    Hǎikǒu 海口
    .
    9
    .
    Hángzhōu 杭州
    .
    10
    .
    Héfèi 合肥
    .
    11
    .
    Hohhot 呼和浩特
    .
    12
    .
    Jiàn'ōu 建瓯
    .
    13
    .
    Jìnán 济南
    .
    14
    .
    Kùnmíng 昆明
    .
    15
    .
    Lánzhōu 兰州
    .
    16
    .
    Měixiàn 梅县
    .
    17
    .
    Nánchàng 南昌
    .
    18
    .
    Nánjīng 南京
    .
    19
    .
    Nánníng 南宁
    .
    20
    .
    Píngyáo 平遥
    .
    21
    .
    Qīngdǎo 青岛
    .
    22
    .
    Shànghǎi 上海
    .
    23
    .
    Shāntóu 汕头
    .
    24
    .
    Shèxiàn 歙县
    .
    25
    .
    Sùzhōu 苏州
    .
    26
    .
    Táiběi 台北
    .
    27
    .
    Tàiyuán 太原
    .
    28
    .
    Táoyuán 桃园
    .
    29
    .
    Tiānjìn 天津
    .
    30
    .
    Tūnxī 屯溪
    .
    31
    .
    Wénzhōu 温州
    .
    32
    .
    Wǔhàn 武汉
    .
    33
    .
    Ürümqi 乌鲁木齐
    .
    34
    .
    Xiàmén 厦门
    .
    35
    .
    Hongkong 香港
    .
    36
    .
    Xiāngtàn 湘潭
    .
    37
    .
    Xīníng 西宁
    .
    38
    .
    Xī'ān 西安
    .
    39
    .
    Yīnchuàn 银川
    .
    40
    .
    Zhèngzhōu 郑州
    .
    1
    .
    7
    .
    15
    .
    Inferred Links
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  114. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List 2015)
    .
    .
    -----Jìnán
    .
    -----Harbin
    .
    -----Héfèi
    .
    Chángshā ----
    .
    Sùzhōu
    ----
    .
    -----Yīnchuàn
    .
    -----Běijīng
    .
    Hángzhōu
    ----
    .
    -----Chéngdū
    .
    -----Hohhot
    .
    -----Lánzhōu
    .
    Xiāngtàn ----
    .
    -----Ürüm
    qi
    .
    M
    ěixiàn
    ----
    .
    -----Xī'ān
    .
    G
    uǎngzhōu
    ----
    .
    -----Nánjīng
    .
    Táoyuán ----
    .
    -----Zhèngzhōu
    .
    -----Kùnmíng
    .
    Táiběi ----
    .
    Shànghǎi ----
    .
    Xiàmén ----
    .
    Jiàn'ǒu ----
    .
    Shèxiàn ----
    .
    -----Q
    īngdǎo
    .
    -----Xīníng
    .
    Fùzhōu ----
    .
    -----Tàiyuán
    .
    -----Píngyáo
    .
    Nánchàng ----
    .
    H
    ongkong
    ----
    .
    N
    ánníng
    ----
    .
    W
    énzhōu
    ----
    .
    -----Guìyáng
    .
    Shāntóu ----
    .
    -----Tiānjìn
    .
    Tūnxī ----
    .
    Hǎikǒu ----
    .
    -----Wǔhàn
    .
    太阳
    .
    日头
    .
    热头
    .
    阳婆
    .

    .
    Loss Event
    .
    Gain Event
    Item „sun”
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  115. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List 2015)
    Item „sun”
    .
    .
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  116. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List 2015)
    Item „sun”
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  117. New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Minimal Lateral Networks
    Application: Chinese Dialects (List 2015)
    Item „sun”
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    Shànghǎi ----
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    Xiàmén ----
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  118. Outlook
    Outlook
    Outlook
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  119. Outlook
    Outlook
    If we want to profit from computational analyses in historical
    linguistics, we need to increase the complexity of our models.
    In order to profit from existing biological approaches, we need to
    foster a close collaboration between computational linguistics,
    computational biologists, but also and especially between classical
    biologists and linguistics.
    We need to be extremely careful with our analogies. Instead of
    transfer methods blindly, we should not forget that we may have to
    adapt them first to meet the specific needs of the target discipline.
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  120. Merci pour votre attention!
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