Towards a formal genealogical classification of the Lezgian languages (North Caucasus): testing various phylogenetic methods on lexical data.

ABSTRACT: A lexicostatistical classification is proposed for 20 languages and dialects of the Lezgian group of the North Caucasian family, based on meticulously compiled 110-item wordlists, published as part of the Global Lexicostatistical Database project. The lexical data have been subsequently analyzed with the aid of the principal phylogenetic methods, both distance-based and character-based: Starling neighbor joining (StarlingNJ), Neighbor joining (NJ), Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), Unweighted maximum parsimony (UMP). Cognation indexes within the input matrix were marked by two different algorithms: traditional etymological approach and phonetic similarity, i.e., the automatic method of consonant classes (Levenshtein distanc

SUBMITTER: Kassian A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4342261 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature