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Geography and language divergence: The case of Andic languages.

ABSTRACT: We study the correlation between phylogenetic and geographic distances for the languages of the Andic branch of the East Caucasian (Nakh-Daghestanian) language family. For several alternative phylogenies, we find that geographic distances correlate with linguistic divergence. Notably, qualitative classifications show a better fit with geography than cognacy-based phylogenies. We interpret this result as follows: The better fit may be due to implicit geographic bias in qualitative classifications. We conclude that approaches to classification other than those based on cognacy run a risk to implicitly include geography and geography-related factors as one basis of genealogical classifications.

SUBMITTER: Koile E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9135239 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Geography and language divergence: The case of Andic languages.

Koile Ezequiel E Chechuro Ilia I Moroz George G Daniel Michael M

PloS one 20220526 5

We study the correlation between phylogenetic and geographic distances for the languages of the Andic branch of the East Caucasian (Nakh-Daghestanian) language family. For several alternative phylogenies, we find that geographic distances correlate with linguistic divergence. Notably, qualitative classifications show a better fit with geography than cognacy-based phylogenies. We interpret this result as follows: The better fit may be due to implicit geographic bias in qualitative classifications ...[more]

PMID: 35617249

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