Glottochronology
Glottochronology, or lexicostatistics, is a quantitative method in historical linguistics that estimates the time of divergence between related languages based on the proportion of shared cognates in their basic vocabularies. Developed by Morris Swadesh in 1950, the method assumes that core vocabulary items change at a relatively constant rate over time, allowing linguists to calculate a 'time depth'—how long ago two languages shared a common ancestor. Though controversial due to its restrictive assumptions, glottochronology provides rough temporal estimates when archaeological or written records are unavailable.
Source record
Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.
- Swadesh, M. (1950). Salish internal relationships. International Journal of American Linguistics, 16(3), 157-167. · DOI 10.1086/464084
- Swadesh, M. (1955). Towards greater accuracy in lexicostatistic dating. International Journal of American Linguistics, 21(2), 121-137. · DOI 10.1086/464321
- Embleton, S. M. (1986). Statistics in Historical Linguistics. Bochum: Brockmeyer. · URL
Curated claims
Claims persisted in the evidence ledger, each with its own assessment.
This view does not invent a claim assessment when the ledger has none.
Related methods
Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.