<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=koi8-r">
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.3825.1300" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Corpora colleagues, it
is very important to keeep to the correct language taxon hierarchy in corpora of
different sorts. Please, inform me what language taxon hierarchy do you advise
me to keep to? <BR> In my opinion hierarchy of the
language subgroups, groups, families and other language taxons is one of
the most global, central, important and leading in linguistics. However,
linguistics journals do not bother to publish the articles on this burning
question.This is why, I'd like to ask you to share with me your opinion on the
hierarchy of the language taxons. Or may be, you know a journal which could
publish my article on the most global, central, important and leading
problem of linguistics? That is the burden of the upper class journal. I
noticed that monor and special linguistic journals do not bother to publish
articles on general problems of linguistics. In my opinion, we should
discuss the most general and <BR>burning linguistic issues online. There
are some problems which can only be solved and are to be <BR>solved by the
community of world linguists. It could be done with the help of a discussion
online or in some linguistic journal. <BR> I think
that linguistics lacks a strict, proper and unambiguous <BR>definition of the
hierarchy of the sets of languages, which are <BR>usually called language
branches, subgroups, groups and families. In other words, linguistics lacks
<BR>the establishment of the strict, proper and unanimously accepted <BR>ordered
series of language taxons. In my mind, this series hierarchy <BR>should begin
with the smallest language taxon (like "a branch of <BR>languages") and the
biggest one (like "a community of languages"). <BR>Thus, we can propose to
discuss in your journal the hierarchy of the <BR>language taxons. By the
smallest language taxon we mean the <BR>language taxon, which includes the least
number of languages. The <BR>languages in this taxon must be closely connected
or related either <BR>genetically, or typologically. It is quite logical to
begin with the <BR>notion of a branch since it is the smallest language taxon.
Actually, <BR>the smallest is the tightest and the most compact language taxon.
<BR>Therefore, the biggest language taxon ("community of languages") <BR>may be
the loosest or the least compact one.<BR> In fact, we propose to
define the following ordered
series:<BR>branch;<BR>subgroup;<BR>group;<BR>family;<BR>unity;<BR>phylum;<BR>union;<BR>community.<BR>Let
us see how interested the world linguists are in establishing good <BR>order in
linguistics. Are there any volunteers to discuss the hierarchy <BR>of language
taxons? If so, please, share your opinions with us <BR>sending your e-mails to
<A href="mailto:yutamb@hotmail.com">yutamb@hotmail.com</A> Remain yours most
sincerely <BR>Yuri Tambovtsev, Novosibirsk Pedagogical University,
<BR>Novosibirsk,
Russia</FONT></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>