Michail Vasilyev | Lomonosov Moscow State University (original) (raw)
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Russian State University for the Humanities
Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian academy of sciences, Peter the Great Museum of Antropology and Ethnography
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Papers by Michail Vasilyev
Journal of Language Relationship, 2020
Journal of Language Relationship, 2017
In this paper we discuss the accuracy of glottochronology, a lexicostatistical method used in the... more In this paper we discuss the accuracy of glottochronology, a lexicostatistical method used in
the dating of linguistic divergence. Our study provides a detailed analysis of the process of
lexical replacement in the basic lexicon of one language over the course of time. To measure
replacement rates and determine other statistic features of lexical change we use 110item
wordlists, compiled over the past two years for 54 modern and several historically attested
Romance languages. Pairwise comparison of modern wordlists with those of Archaic Latin,
Late Classical Latin, Old French, and Old Italian allows to obtain several control points suitable
for calibration of glottochronological equations. To estimate the time distance between
the compared idioms, three different methods have been applied: the classic formula of
M. Swadesh, the modified glottochronology of S. Starostin and a recently proposed approach
based on simulation of lexical changes of every meaning on the Swadesh list as stationary
Poisson processes. Further analysis resulted in several important conclusions concerning the
following questions: (a) what are the main characteristics of lexical divergence in one language;
(b) which of the existing models maps these characteristics more efficiently; (c) how
precise and reliable glottochronological dating can be in general. We plan to follow this research
by another study in which the process of relative divergence between two or more
languages with the same ancestor will be considered.
The paper is a sequel to an earlier study by the authors, in which they discussed the accuracy of... more The paper is a sequel to an earlier study by the authors, in which they discussed the accuracy
of linguistic datings arrived at by the glottochronological method on the basis of data from
110-item wordlists for Romance languages. The object of this second part of the study is the
dating of linguistic divergence, i.e. determining the separation dates for two or more modern
languages. In this paper, we compare several traditional as well as newly offered models for
the glottochronological process, with special attention paid to the margin of error and reliability
of glottochronological calculations on different time depths. The results of the study
allow for a realistic assessment of the degree of accuracy in the glottochronological dating of
the divergence of Romance languages and lead to a number of practical conclusions that will
be useful for the application of glottochronology to any other linguistic material.
Journal of Language Relationship, 2020
Journal of Language Relationship, 2017
In this paper we discuss the accuracy of glottochronology, a lexicostatistical method used in the... more In this paper we discuss the accuracy of glottochronology, a lexicostatistical method used in
the dating of linguistic divergence. Our study provides a detailed analysis of the process of
lexical replacement in the basic lexicon of one language over the course of time. To measure
replacement rates and determine other statistic features of lexical change we use 110item
wordlists, compiled over the past two years for 54 modern and several historically attested
Romance languages. Pairwise comparison of modern wordlists with those of Archaic Latin,
Late Classical Latin, Old French, and Old Italian allows to obtain several control points suitable
for calibration of glottochronological equations. To estimate the time distance between
the compared idioms, three different methods have been applied: the classic formula of
M. Swadesh, the modified glottochronology of S. Starostin and a recently proposed approach
based on simulation of lexical changes of every meaning on the Swadesh list as stationary
Poisson processes. Further analysis resulted in several important conclusions concerning the
following questions: (a) what are the main characteristics of lexical divergence in one language;
(b) which of the existing models maps these characteristics more efficiently; (c) how
precise and reliable glottochronological dating can be in general. We plan to follow this research
by another study in which the process of relative divergence between two or more
languages with the same ancestor will be considered.
The paper is a sequel to an earlier study by the authors, in which they discussed the accuracy of... more The paper is a sequel to an earlier study by the authors, in which they discussed the accuracy
of linguistic datings arrived at by the glottochronological method on the basis of data from
110-item wordlists for Romance languages. The object of this second part of the study is the
dating of linguistic divergence, i.e. determining the separation dates for two or more modern
languages. In this paper, we compare several traditional as well as newly offered models for
the glottochronological process, with special attention paid to the margin of error and reliability
of glottochronological calculations on different time depths. The results of the study
allow for a realistic assessment of the degree of accuracy in the glottochronological dating of
the divergence of Romance languages and lead to a number of practical conclusions that will
be useful for the application of glottochronology to any other linguistic material.