Comparative method - Revision history

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Lede is not the place for a paragraph-long blockquote

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	In [[linguistics]], the '''comparative method''' is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with [[genetic relationship (linguistics)\|common descent]] from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards to infer the properties of that ancestor. The comparative method may be contrasted with the method of [[internal reconstruction]] in which the internal development of a single language is inferred by the analysis of features within that language.<ref>{{harvnb\|Lehmann\|1993\|pp=31 ff}}.</ref> Ordinarily, both methods are used together to reconstruct prehistoric phases of languages; to fill in gaps in the historical record of a language; to discover the development of phonological, morphological and other linguistic systems and to confirm or to refute hypothesised relationships between languages.		In [[linguistics]], the '''comparative method''' is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with [[genetic relationship (linguistics)\|common descent]] from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards to infer the properties of that ancestor. The comparative method may be contrasted with the method of [[internal reconstruction]] in which the internal development of a single language is inferred by the analysis of features within that language.<ref>{{harvnb\|Lehmann\|1993\|pp=31 ff}}.</ref> Ordinarily, both methods are used together to reconstruct prehistoric phases of languages; to fill in gaps in the historical record of a language; to discover the development of phonological, morphological and other linguistic systems and to confirm or to refute hypothesised relationships between languages.

	The comparative method emerged in the early 19th century with the birth of [[Indo-European studies]], then took a definite scientific approach with the works of the [[Neogrammarians]] in the late 19th–early 20th century.<ref name=":0" /> Key contributions were made by the Danish scholars [[Rasmus Christian Rask\|Rasmus Rask]] (1787–1832) and [[Karl Verner]] (1846–1896), and the German scholar [[Jacob Grimm]] (1785–1863). The first linguist to offer reconstructed forms from a [[proto-language]] was [[August Schleicher]] (1821–1868) in his ''Compendium der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen'', originally published in 1861.<ref>{{harvnb\|Lehmann\|1993\|p=26}}.</ref> ~~Here is Schleicher's explanation of why he offered reconstructed forms:~~<ref>{{harvnb\|Schleicher\|1874\|p=8}}.</ref>		The comparative method emerged in the early 19th century with the birth of [[Indo-European studies]], then took a definite scientific approach with the works of the [[Neogrammarians]] in the late 19th–early 20th century.<ref name=":0" /> Key contributions were made by the Danish scholars [[Rasmus Christian Rask\|Rasmus Rask]] (1787–1832) and [[Karl Verner]] (1846–1896), and the German scholar [[Jacob Grimm]] (1785–1863). The first linguist to offer reconstructed forms from a [[proto-language]] was [[August Schleicher]] (1821–1868) in his ''Compendium der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen'', originally published in 1861.<ref>{{harvnb\|Lehmann\|1993\|p=26}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb\|Schleicher\|1874\|p=8}}</ref>
	<blockquote>In the present work an attempt is made to set forth the inferred [[Proto-Indo-European language\|Indo-European original language]] side by side with its really existent derived languages. Besides the advantages offered by such a plan, in setting immediately before the eyes of the student the final results of the investigation in a more concrete form, and thereby rendering easier his insight into the nature of particular [[Indo-European languages]], there is, I think, another of no less importance gained by it, namely that it shows the baselessness of the assumption that the non-Indian Indo-European languages were derived from Old-Indian ([[Sanskrit]]).</blockquote>

	==Definition==		==Definition==
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	They evidence two correspondence sets, ''k : k'' and ''k : {{IPA link\|ʃ}}:		They evidence two correspondence sets, ''k : k'' and ''k : {{IPA link\|ʃ}}'':

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	====Analogy====		====Analogy====
	[[~~Analogy#Linguistics~~\|Analogy]] is the sporadic change of a feature to be like another feature in the same or a different language. It may affect a single word or be generalized to an entire class of features, such as a verb paradigm. An example is the [[Russian language\|Russian]] word for ''nine''. The word, by regular sound changes from [[Proto-Slavic]], should have been {{IPA\|/nʲevʲatʲ/}}, but it is in fact {{IPA\|/dʲevʲatʲ/}}. It is believed that the initial ''{{IPA\|nʲ-}}'' changed to ''{{IPA\|dʲ-}}'' under influence of the word for "ten" in Russian, {{IPA\|/dʲesʲatʲ/}}.<ref>{{harvnb\|Beekes\|1995\|p=79}}.</ref>		[[Analogical change\|Analogy]] is the sporadic change of a feature to be like another feature in the same or a different language. It may affect a single word or be generalized to an entire class of features, such as a verb paradigm. An example is the [[Russian language\|Russian]] word for ''nine''. The word, by regular sound changes from [[Proto-Slavic]], should have been {{IPA\|/nʲevʲatʲ/}}, but it is in fact {{IPA\|/dʲevʲatʲ/}}. It is believed that the initial ''{{IPA\|nʲ-}}'' changed to ''{{IPA\|dʲ-}}'' under influence of the word for "ten" in Russian, {{IPA\|/dʲesʲatʲ/}}.<ref>{{harvnb\|Beekes\|1995\|p=79}}.</ref>

	====Gradual application====		====Gradual application====

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-has only one [[Voiced bilabial stop|voiced stop]], ''*b'', and although it has an [[alveolar nasal|alveolar]] and a [[velar nasal]], ''*n'' and ''*ŋ'', there is no corresponding [[Bilabial nasal|labial nasal]]. However, languages generally maintain symmetry in their phonemic inventories.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tabain |first1=Marija |last2=Garellek |first2=Marc |last3=Hellwig |first3=Birgit |last4=Gregory |first4=Adele |last5=Beare |first5=Richard |date=2022-03-01 |title=Voicing in Qaqet: Prenasalization and language contact |journal=Journal of Phonetics |language=en |volume=91 |pages=101138 |doi=10.1016/j.wocn.2022.101138 |s2cid=247211541 |issn=0095-4470|doi-access=free }}</ref> In this case, a linguist might attempt to investigate the possibilities that either what was earlier reconstructed as ''*b'' is in fact ''*m'' or that the ''*n'' and ''*ŋ'' are in fact ''*d'' and ''*g''.
+has only one [[Voiced bilabial stop|voiced stop]], ''*b'', and although it has an [[alveolar nasal|alveolar]] and a [[velar nasal]], ''*n'' and ''*ŋ'', there is no corresponding [[Bilabial nasal|labial nasal]]. However, languages generally maintain symmetry in their phonemic inventories.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tabain |first1=Marija |last2=Garellek |first2=Marc |last3=Hellwig |first3=Birgit |last4=Gregory |first4=Adele |last5=Beare |first5=Richard |date=2022-03-01 |title=Voicing in Qaqet: Prenasalization and language contact |journal=Journal of Phonetics |language=en |volume=91 |article-number=101138 |doi=10.1016/j.wocn.2022.101138 |s2cid=247211541 |issn=0095-4470|doi-access=free }}</ref> In this case, a linguist might attempt to investigate the possibilities that either what was earlier reconstructed as ''*b'' is in fact ''*m'' or that the ''*n'' and ''*ŋ'' are in fact ''*d'' and ''*g''.
 Even a symmetrical system can be typologically suspicious. For example, here is the traditional [[Proto-Indo-European]] stop inventory:<ref>{{harvnb|Beekes|1995|p=124}}.</ref>
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 <blockquote>The Comparative Method ''as such'' is not, in fact, historical; it provides evidence of linguistic relationships to which we may give a historical interpretation.... [Our increased knowledge about the historical processes involved] has probably made historical linguists less prone to equate the idealizations required by the method with historical reality.... Provided we keep [the interpretation of the results and the method itself] apart, the Comparative Method can continue to be used in the reconstruction of earlier stages of languages.</blockquote>
-Proto-languages can be verified in many historical instances, such as Latin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kortlandt |first=Frederik |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/697534924 |title=Studies in Germanic, Indo-European and Indo-Uralic |date=2010 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-90-420-3136-4 |location=Amsterdam |oclc=697534924}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Koerner |first=E. F. K. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/742367480 |title=Linguistic historiography : projects & prospects |date=1999 |publisher=J. Benjamins |isbn=978-90-272-8377-1 |location=Amsterdam |oclc=742367480}}</ref> Although no longer a law, settlement-archaeology is known to be essentially valid for some cultures that straddle history and prehistory, such as the Celtic Iron Age (mainly Celtic) and [[Mycenaean civilization]] (mainly Greek). None of those models can be or have been completely rejected, but none is sufficient alone.
+Proto-languages can be verified in many historical instances, such as Latin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kortlandt |first=Frederik |title=Studies in Germanic, Indo-European and Indo-Uralic |date=2010 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-90-420-3136-4 |location=Amsterdam |oclc=697534924}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Koerner |first=E. F. K. |title=Linguistic historiography : projects & prospects |date=1999 |publisher=J. Benjamins |isbn=978-90-272-8377-1 |location=Amsterdam |oclc=742367480}}</ref> Although no longer a law, settlement-archaeology is known to be essentially valid for some cultures that straddle history and prehistory, such as the Celtic Iron Age (mainly Celtic) and [[Mycenaean civilization]] (mainly Greek). None of those models can be or have been completely rejected, but none is sufficient alone.
 ===The Neogrammarian principle===
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 * {{cite book|last=Crowley|first=Terry|author-link=Terry Crowley (linguist)|year=1992|title=An Introduction to Historical Linguistics|edition=2nd|location=Auckland|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
 * {{cite book|last=Fox|first=Anthony|year=1995|title=Linguistic Reconstruction: An Introduction to Theory and Method|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
-* {{citation|last=François|first=Alexandre|author-link=Alexandre François (linguist)|contribution=Trees, Waves and Linkages: Models of Language Diversification|editor1-last=Bowern|editor1-first=Claire|editor2-last=Evans|editor2-first=Bethwyn|title=The Routledge Handbook of Historical Linguistics|pages=161–189|publisher=Routledge|place=London|year=2014|isbn=978-0-41552-789-7|contribution-url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00874726 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904135442/http://alex.francois.free.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2014_HHL_Trees-waves-linkages_Diversification.pdf |archive-date=2014-09-04 |url-status=live|ref=linkage}}
+* {{Citation
 * {{cite journal|last=Goddard|first=Ives|year=1974|title=An Outline of the Historical Phonology of Arapaho and Atsina|journal=International Journal of American Linguistics|volume=40|issue=2|pages=102–16|doi=10.1086/465292|s2cid=144253507}}
 * {{cite book|last=Hock|author-link=Hans Henrich Hock|first=Hans Henrich|year=1991|title=Principles of Historical Linguistics|edition=2nd revised and updated|location=Berlin|publisher=Walter de Gruyter}}
 * {{cite journal|last1=Janda|first1=Richard D.|first2=Brian D.|last2=Joseph|year=1989|title=In Further Defence of a Non-Phonological Account for Sanskrit Root-Initial Aspiration Alternations|journal=Proceedings of the Fifth Eastern States Conference on Linguistics|pages=246–260|location=Columbus, Ohio|publisher=Ohio State University Department of Linguistics|url=http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/publications/1989aspiration.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906214714/http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/publications/1989aspiration.pdf |archive-date=2006-09-06 |url-status=live|ref=CITEREFJanda1989}}
-* {{citation|last1=Kalyan|first1=Siva|last2=François|first2=Alexandre|contribution=Freeing the Comparative Method from the tree model: A framework for Historical Glottometry|editor1-last=Kikusawa|editor1-first=Ritsuko|editor2-last=Reid|editor2-first=Laurie|title=Let's Talk about Trees: Genetic Relationships of Languages and Their Phylogenic Representation|series=Senri Ethnological Studies, 98|pages=59–89|publisher=National Museum of Ethnology|place=Ōsaka|year=2018|contribution-url=http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/Kalyan-Francois_2018_Freeing-Comparative-Method-from-Tree-model.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929114307/http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/Kalyan-Francois_2018_Freeing-Comparative-Method-from-Tree-model.pdf |archive-date=2022-09-29 |url-status=live|ref=kf}}.
+* {{Citation
 * {{cite book|last1=Kylstra|first1=A. D.|last2=Sirkka-Liisa|first2=Hahmo|first3=Tette|last3=Hofstra|first4=Osmo|last4=Nikkilä|year=1996|title=Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen|language=de|volume=Band II: K-O|location=Amsterdam, Atlanta|publisher=Rodopi B.V.|ref=CITEREFKylstra1996}}
 * {{cite journal|last1=Labov|first1=William|year=2007|title=Transmission and diffusion|url=http://www.ling.upenn.edu/%7Elabov/Papers/TD.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921235628/http://www.ling.upenn.edu/%7Elabov/Papers/TD.pdf |archive-date=2017-09-21 |url-status=live|journal=Language|volume=83|issue=2|pages=344–387|doi=10.1353/lan.2007.0082|citeseerx=10.1.1.705.7860|s2cid=6255506}}

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