Ceolin, Andrea, Guardiano, Cristina, Irimia, Monica-Alexandrina et al. (1 more author) (2020) Formal Syntax and Deep History. Frontiers in Psychology. 488871. ISSN 1664-1078
Abstract
We show that, contrary to long-standing assumptions, syntactic traits, modeled here within the generative biolinguistic framework, provide insights into deep-time language history. To support this claim, we have encoded the diversity of nominal structures using 94 universally definable binary parameters, set in 69 languages spanning across up to 13 traditionally irreducible Eurasian families. We found a phylogenetic signal that distinguishes all such families and matches the family-internal tree topologies that are safely established through classical etymological methods and datasets. We have retrieved “near-perfect” phylogenies, which are essentially immune to homoplastic disruption and only moderately influenced by horizontal convergence, two factors that instead severely affect more externalized linguistic features, like sound inventories. This result allows us to draw some preliminary inferences about plausible/implausible cross-family classifications; it also provides a new source of evidence for testing the representation of diversity in syntactic theories.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Ceolin, Guardiano, Irimia and Longobardi. |
Keywords: | phylogenetics, formal syntax, parameters, language reconstruction, biolinguistics |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Language and Linguistic Science (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jan 2021 16:00 |
Last Modified: | 06 Nov 2024 01:42 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.488871 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.488871 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:169292 |