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Beyond Cognacy
Historical Relations Between Words and Their Implication for
Phylogenetic Reconstruction
Johann-Mattis List
DFG research fellow
Centre des recherches linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale
Team Adaptation, Integration, Reticulation, Evolution
EHESS and UPMC, Paris
2016/10/13
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
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Background
Background
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Background
Background
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Background
Background
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Background
Background
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Background
Background
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Language History
Language History
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Dendrophilia
August Schleicher
(1821-1868)
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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)
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Dendrophilia
Schleicher (1853)
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
Johannes Schmidt
(1843-1901)
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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)
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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)
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
Schmidt (1875)
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Dendrophobia
Meillet (1908)
Hirt (1905)
Bloomfield (1933)
Bonfante (1931)
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
Trees are bad, because...
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
Trees are bad, because...
they are difficult to
reconstruct............
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
Trees are bad, because...
they are difficult to
reconstruct............
languages do not always
split............ .......... ............
............
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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 ............
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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
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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
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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
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Language History Modeling Language History
Modeling Language History: Phylogenetic Networks
Hugo Schuchardt
(1842-1927)
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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)
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Language History Modeling Language History
Phylogenetic Networks
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Language History Modeling Language History
Phylogenetic Networks
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
SUN
Indo-European
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
SUN
Indo-European
soːwel- sunːoː-
SUN
Germanic
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
'soh₂-wl̩- sh₂uˈen-
SUN
Indo-European
soːwel- sunːoː-
SUN
Germanic
zɔnə
SUN
German
suːl
SUN
Swedish
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
arbre
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
form
"meaning"
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
arbre
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
arbre
MEANING
FORM
LANGUAGE
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
FORM
LANGUAGE
MEANING
arbre
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
arbre
MEANING
FORM
LANGUAGE
MEANING
FORM
LANGUAGE
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Language History Lexical Change
Lexical Change
SEMANTIC CHANGE
MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE
S
T
R
A
T
IC
C
H
A
N
G
E
Gévaudan (2007)
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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
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Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics
Biological Approaches
in
Historical Linguistics
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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
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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.
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Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
Keys to the Past: Uniformitarianism (C. Lyell)
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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).
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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.
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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!
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Biological Approaches in Historical Linguistics Keys to the Past
Keys to the Past: Summary
1700 1800
1750 1850
List et al. (2016, Biology Direct)
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
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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)
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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)
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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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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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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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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
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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
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Analogies and Parallels
Analogies and Parallels
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Analogies and Parallels
Analogies and Parallels
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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
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Differences
Differences in the Alphabets
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Differences
Differences in the Alphabets
• universal • language-specific
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Differences
Differences in the Alphabets
• universal • language-specific
• limited • widely varying
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Differences
Differences in the Alphabets
• universal • language-specific
• limited • widely varying
• constant • mutable
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Differences
Differences in the Processes
GENES <=> WORDS
HOMOLOGS <=> COGNATES
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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).
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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).
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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.
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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 (2016)
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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)
?
?
?
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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)
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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 (2016)
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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 (2016)
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Differences
Differences in the Processes: Semantic Change
hand
arm
foot
day
m
eat
animal
day
sand
moon
leg
T₁
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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
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Differences
Differences in the Processes: Semantic Change
hand
arm
foot
day
m
eat
animal
day
sand
moon
leg
T₂
?
?
?
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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
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction
Shifting the Paradigm
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
German m oː n t -
English m uː n - -
Danish m ɔː n - ə
Swedish m oː n - e
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
German m oː n t -
English m uː n - -
Danish m ɔː n - ə
Swedish m oː n - e
Fúzhōu ŋ u o ʔ ⁵ - - - - - - - - - -
Měixiàn ŋ i a t ⁵ - - - - - k u o ŋ ⁴⁴
Guǎngzhōu j - y t ² l - œ ŋ ²² - - - - -
Běijīng - y ɛ - ⁵¹ l i ɑ ŋ - - - - - -
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
33 / 45
Slide 98
Slide 98 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
German m oː n t -
English m uː n - -
Danish m ɔː n - ə
Swedish m oː n - e
Fúzhōu ŋ u o ʔ ⁵ - - - - - - - - - -
Měixiàn ŋ i a t ⁵ - - - - - k u o ŋ ⁴⁴
Guǎngzhōu j - y t ² l - œ ŋ ²² - - - - -
Běijīng - y ɛ - ⁵¹ l i ɑ ŋ - - - - - -
1 2 3 4
number of morphemes per word
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
relative frequency
all words
nouns
Compounds in the basic vocabulary (Swadesh1952) across
23 Chinese dialects (data by Hamed and Wang 2006)
30%
50%
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
33 / 45
Slide 99
Slide 99 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
German m oː n t -
English m uː n - -
Danish m ɔː n - ə
Swedish m oː n - e
Fúzhōu ŋ u o ʔ ⁵ - - - - - - - - - -
Měixiàn ŋ i a t ⁵ - - - - - k u o ŋ ⁴⁴
Guǎngzhōu j - y t ² l - œ ŋ ²² - - - - -
Běijīng - y ɛ - ⁵¹ l i ɑ ŋ - - - - - -
"MOON"
"MOON"
"SHINE" "LIGHT"
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
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Slide 100
Slide 100 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
33 / 45
Slide 101
Slide 101 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng
INNO
VATIO
N
INNO
VATIO
N
INNO
VATIO
N
BO
RRO
W
ING
LO
SS
INNO
VATIO
N
INNO
VATIO
N
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
33 / 45
Slide 102
Slide 102 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
34 / 45
Slide 103
Slide 103 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
34 / 45
Slide 104
Slide 104 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
34 / 45
Slide 105
Slide 105 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Fúzhōu
Měixiàn
Guǎngzhōu
Běijīng
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
34 / 45
Slide 106
Slide 106 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
LOSS
INNO
VATIO
N
INNO
VATIO
N
BORROWING
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
34 / 45
Slide 107
Slide 107 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
We cannot model partial cognacy sufficiently when restricting our
analyses to binary gain-loss models, as they are common in
Bayesian phylogenetic analyses.
Partial cognacy is too frequent to be ignored, not only in
Sino-Tibetan languages, but also in many other language families
(Austro-Asiatic, Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai).
If we define binary cognacy on the basis of common morphemes,
the majority of the items in our datasets will become cognate and
we will loose a great deal of the phylogenetic signal.
If we define binary cognacy on the basis of identical morphemes in
all words, the majority of the items in our datasets will become
non-cognate, and we will again loose a great deal of phylogenetic
signal.
35 / 45
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
A
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
36 / 45
Slide 109
Slide 109 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
A
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
36 / 45
Slide 110
Slide 110 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
36 / 45
Slide 111
Slide 111 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
36 / 45
Slide 112
Slide 112 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
36 / 45
Slide 113
Slide 113 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
The Crux with Partial Cognacy
When dealing with language families in which
compounding and morphological derivation is so
frequent that it covers more than 30 percent of
the basic vocabulary of the languages, we need
to incorporate partial cognacy our phylogenetic
models.
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
36 / 45
Slide 114
Slide 114 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Directed, Weighted, Multi-State Parsimony and Lexical
Change
A
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
37 / 45
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Slide 115 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Directed, Weighted, Multi-State Parsimony and Lexical
Change
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
37 / 45
Slide 116
Slide 116 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Directed, Weighted, Multi-State Parsimony and Lexical
Change
AC
ABD
AB
A
LANGUAGE 1
LANGUAGE 2
LANGUAGE 3
LANGUAGE 4
37 / 45
Slide 117
Slide 117 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Directed, Weighted, Multi-State Parsimony and Lexical
Change
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 2 1
月光 2 0 1 2
月光佛 4 2 0 4
月亮 2 2 3 0
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 2 1
月光 1 0 1 2
月光佛 2 1 0 3
月亮 1 2 3 0
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 1 1
月光 1 0 1 1
月光佛 1 1 0 1
月亮 1 1 1 0
月 光
月 光 佛
-
月 亮
月 光 佛
-
0
0
1 0 2 2
= 1 = 4
月 光
月 光 佛
-
月 亮
月 光 佛
-
0
0
1 0 2 1
= 1 = 3
Transition Penalty (SANKOFF)
Transition Penalty (DWST)
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 1
1
2 1
1
1
2
A
B
C
38 / 45
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Directed, Weighted, Multi-State Parsimony and Lexical
Change
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 2 1
月光 2 0 1 2
月光佛 4 2 0 4
月亮 2 2 3 0
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 2 1
月光 1 0 1 2
月光佛 2 1 0 3
月亮 1 2 3 0
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 1 1
月光 1 0 1 1
月光佛 1 1 0 1
月亮 1 1 1 0
月 光
月 光 佛
-
月 亮
月 光 佛
-
0
0
1 0 2 2
= 1 = 4
月 光
月 光 佛
-
月 亮
月 光 佛
-
0
0
1 0 2 1
= 1 = 3
Transition Penalty (SANKOFF)
Transition Penalty (DWST)
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 1
1
2 1
1
1
2
A
B
C
38 / 45
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Directed, Weighted, Multi-State Parsimony and Lexical
Change
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 2 1
月光 2 0 1 2
月光佛 4 2 0 4
月亮 2 2 3 0
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 2 1
月光 1 0 1 2
月光佛 2 1 0 3
月亮 1 2 3 0
月 月光 月光佛 月亮
月 0 1 1 1
月光 1 0 1 1
月光佛 1 1 0 1
月亮 1 1 1 0
月 光
月 光 佛
-
月 亮
月 光 佛
-
0
0
1 0 2 2
= 1 = 4
月 光
月 光 佛
-
月 亮
月 光 佛
-
0
0
1 0 2 1
= 1 = 3
Transition Penalty (SANKOFF)
Transition Penalty (DWST)
1
1
1
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2 1
1
2 1
1
1
2
A
B
C
38 / 45
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Slide 120 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Testing the Method on Chinese Dialect Data
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
22 Chinese dialect varieties with Chinese character readings
(basis vocabulary, data by Hamed and Wang 2006),
57 nouns in which Ancient Chinese forms expressing the concepts
are known to us and are are also still preserved in at least one
Chinese dialect,
three reference phylogenies (Arbre by Sagart 2011, Southern
Chinese by Norman 2003, Shùxíngtú by Yóu 1992),
four models of lexical change (binary, unweighted, weighted,
weighted and directed).
39 / 45
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Results
Model
Arbre
Hits Fails Score
BINARY 0.55 / 31.04 0.45 / 24.96 695
FITCH 0.63 / 35.51 0.37 / 20.49 322
SANKOFF 0.76 / 42.83 0.24 / 13.17 508
DWST 0.82 / 45.70 0.18 / 10.30 532
Model
Southern Chinese
Hits Fails Score
BINARY 0.52 / 28.95 0.48 / 27.05 719
FITCH 0.47 / 26.40 0.53 / 29.60 328
SANKOFF 0.62 / 34.50 0.38 / 21.50 518
DWST 0.79 / 44.50 0.21 / 11.50 546
Xiāng
Yuè
Mǐn
Wú
Mandarin
Hakka
Gàn
Xiāng
Yuè
Wú
Mandarin
Mǐn
Hakka
Gàn
Xiāng
Mandarin
Wú
Yuè
Mǐn
Hakka
Gàn
Model
Shùxíngtú
Hits Fails Score
BINARY 0.52 / 29.04 0.48 / 26.96 726
FITCH 0.51 / 28.31 0.49 / 27.69 336
SANKOFF 0.67 / 37.50 0.33 / 18.50 524
DWST 0.82 / 46.00 0.18 / 10.00 546
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
40 / 45
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Slide 122 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 123
Slide 123 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 124
Slide 124 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 125
Slide 125 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 126
Slide 126 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 127
Slide 127 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 128
Slide 128 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 129
Slide 129 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 130
Slide 130 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
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Slide 131 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
Slide 132
Slide 132 text
New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Examples
Fúzhōu
Táiběi
Xiàmén
Zhāngpíng
Mǐn
Guǎngzhōu
Měixiàn
Liánchéng
Hakka
Wēnzhōu
Níngbō
Sūzhōu
Shànghǎi
Shànghǎi_B
Wú
Nánchāng
Ānyì
Gàn
Chángshā
Shuāngfēng
Xiāng
Yàngshān
Wǔhàn
Níngxià
Chéngdū
Běijīng
Tàiyuán
Yúcì
Guānhuà
月
月娘
月光佛
月光
月亮
月明
‘MOON’
‘MOON-MOTHER’
‘MOON-LIGHT’
‘MOON-LIGHT-SUFFIX’
‘MOON-SHINE’
‘MOON-BRIGHT’
List (2016, Journal of Language Evolution)
41 / 45
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New Approaches to Phylogenetic Reconstruction Lexical Change in the Chinese Dialects
Interactive Application
An interactive application showing all inferred evolutionary scenarios for
the Arbre phylogeny by Sagart (2011) is available at
http://digling.github.io/beyond-cognacy-paper/.
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Outlook
Outlook
Outlook
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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
transfering 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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Thanks for Your Attention!
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