Modeling linguistic evolution : A look under the hood
(2018) In Linguistics Vanguard 4(1).- Abstract
This paper takes a detailed look at some popular models of evolution used in contemporary diachronic linguistic research, focusing on the continuous-time Markov model, a particularly popular choice. I provide an exposition of the math underlying the CTM model, seldom discussed in linguistic papers. I show that in some work, a lack of explicit reference to the underlying computation creates some difficulty in interpreting results, particularly in the domain of ancestral state reconstruction. I conclude by adumbrating some ways in which linguists may be able to exploit these models to investigate a suite of factors which may influence diachronic linguistic change.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/ccaadbe6-e589-4a2a-9096-8c14d28c1ce5
- author
- Cathcart, Chundra Aroor LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Diachronic linguistics, Evolutionary linguistics
- in
- Linguistics Vanguard
- volume
- 4
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 20170043
- publisher
- De Gruyter
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85047272900
- ISSN
- 2199-174X
- DOI
- 10.1515/lingvan-2017-0043
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ccaadbe6-e589-4a2a-9096-8c14d28c1ce5
- date added to LUP
- 2018-06-04 09:52:06
- date last changed
- 2023-09-22 03:07:02
@article{ccaadbe6-e589-4a2a-9096-8c14d28c1ce5,
abstract = {{<p>This paper takes a detailed look at some popular models of evolution used in contemporary diachronic linguistic research, focusing on the continuous-time Markov model, a particularly popular choice. I provide an exposition of the math underlying the CTM model, seldom discussed in linguistic papers. I show that in some work, a lack of explicit reference to the underlying computation creates some difficulty in interpreting results, particularly in the domain of ancestral state reconstruction. I conclude by adumbrating some ways in which linguists may be able to exploit these models to investigate a suite of factors which may influence diachronic linguistic change.</p>}},
author = {{Cathcart, Chundra Aroor}},
issn = {{2199-174X}},
keywords = {{Diachronic linguistics; Evolutionary linguistics}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{De Gruyter}},
series = {{Linguistics Vanguard}},
title = {{Modeling linguistic evolution : A look under the hood}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2017-0043}},
doi = {{10.1515/lingvan-2017-0043}},
volume = {{4}},
year = {{2018}},
}