The Significance of Word Lists: Statistical Tests for Investigating Historical Connections Between Languages (Dissertations in Linguistics) - Hardcover

Kessler, Brett

 
9781575862996: The Significance of Word Lists: Statistical Tests for Investigating Historical Connections Between Languages (Dissertations in Linguistics)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1575862999 ISBN 13: 9781575862996
Verlag: Centre for the Study of Language & Information, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

Similar words for similar concepts turn up in many widely scattered languages. Some linguists say this is chance while others claim that many if not all of the world's languages descend from a single prehistoric language. Yet neither position has been analyzed or supported with statistics. Computerized statistical techniques can be used to help determine whether or not words in different languages have ancestral connections. These techniques are explained and broken down to provide the necessary principles for those linguists with no background in statistics. This methodology measures the probabilistic significance of sound correspondences between short word lists. Many rules of thumb used to obviate chance resemblance are shown to decrease the power of quantitive testing. The procedures presented here are straightforward, but the author also presents the extensive linguistic work needed to produce word lists that will not yield nonsensical results. Examples analyze 200 words in eight languages.

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Reseña del editor

Similar words for similar concepts turn up in many widely scattered languages. Some linguists say this is chance while others claim that many if not all of the world's languages descend from a single prehistoric language. Yet neither position has been analyzed or supported with statistics. Computerized statistical techniques can be used to help determine whether or not words in different languages have ancestral connections. These techniques are explained and broken down to provide the necessary principles for those linguists with no background in statistics. This methodology measures the probabilistic significance of sound correspondences between short word lists. Many rules of thumb used to obviate chance resemblance are shown to decrease the power of quantitive testing. The procedures presented here are straightforward, but the author also presents the extensive linguistic work needed to produce word lists that will not yield nonsensical results. Examples analyze 200 words in eight languages.

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Verlag
Centre for the Study of Language & Information
Erscheinungsdatum
2001
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1575862999
ISBN 13 
9781575862996
Einband
Tapa dura
Anzahl der Seiten
287
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

Weitere beliebte Ausgaben desselben Titels

9781575863009: The Significance of Word Lists: Statistical Tests for Investigating Historical Connections Between Languages (Dissertations in Linguistics)

Vorgestellte Ausgabe

ISBN 10:  1575863006 ISBN 13:  9781575863009
Verlag: Centre for the Study of Language..., 2001
Softcover