Intro to Historical Linguistics: Comparative Method & Language Family Trees (lesson 3 of 4)

Learn the basics of language history and how languages change over time. This lesson introduces the essentials of the comparative method. We'll use cognates to group related languages into family trees. Related languages trace their linguistic lineage to a common ancestor called the "parent language", which is either attested (documented) or reconstructed.

Visit the site for more information:
http://www.nativlang.com/linguistics/historical-linguistics-lessons.php

Category:

Education

Tags:

• historical linguistics
• language change
• comparative method
• language families
• related languages

[stdxytb]

sorry i spelled it wrong, it's 'ika'.

but there can be a case where they are related but do not share a common ancestor, since greek have two words for 'fish', other being 'salpe' and another can be just a loan word.

[NativLang]

@stdxytb If an inherited cognate persists in one language and related loanword in the other, shouldn't they still share a common source either on the Greek side or on the Maori side? Or are you thinking of something like a hybrid word?

The main question we'd have to answer is this: if these two words are etymologically related, how are they related?

[stdxytb]

@NativLang they may share a common source in maori side, but one reason for proposing this relation would be their phonetic resemblance, since these nations are and were distant to each other, and i think synonymous word (to native one) is usually borrowing from another language, because i don't believe or see need for more than one words having the same meaning.

ps sorry for my english :)

[NativLang]

@stdxytb No apologies needed - I understand you well.

The problem here is looking for a fit in handpicked data. How can we show that the rough resemblance isn't due to chance? For comparison, the Yaqui word is 'wīkit' and in Mayan it's 'kay'. Are some of these words related? All? None? If so, how? We need a better method than feeling like the two words sound similar, then coming up with a whole back-story.

[stdxytb]

may ikto (maori word for fish) be related to ikhthus (greek word for fish) ?

[NativLang]

@stdxytb Interesting speculation. I only know ika (cognate with Hawaiian i'a) for 'fish'.

If they're related, ika and ἰχθύς share a common ancestor at some point in time. What is that ancestor, and when did they diverge?

I wouldn't close the door on the possibility up front. I'd just need good linguistic data to make a case for it!

[NativLang]

@Cherispice You're welcome! I'd certainly consider making a series that focuses on Indo-European or even just Proto-Germanic. In the meantime, I did touch on Grimm's Law very briefly in my video "Etymology - sound change, roots & derivation".

[Cherispice]

Thank you.. have you ever considered explaining Grimm's Law and Verner's Law?