The UPenn IE Tree (a test)

[Jon Patrick]

On  Thu, 26 Aug 1999 01:56:45 EDT   Steve long wrote:

    5.  We would not reconstruct the parent anywhere close to C6, assuming it
    to be a recent and maybe odd daughter.  But in fact that would be the only
    accurate reconstruction.

    It really isn't pertinent to say that this could never happen.  We could
    always adjust the scenario enough to make it more possible.

    Whether it is probable or not does not matter.  The point is that if it did
    happen, the Stammbaum with its given assumptions, would not be able to
    reflect these events accurately.  (But it would give the appearance of an
    accurate solution.)

    I think that this happens because the system is based on innovations but
    not conservations.  If you only measure the vectors of change, the vectors
    of continuity become invisible.  A little like reconstructing the lineage
    of dinosaurs by assuming they are all similar, and then measuring how much
    they differed.  Rather than trying to find a way to rationally measure the
    similarities in the first place.

    On the other hand, I have no better system to offer.  This does I hope
    explains my awkward question about how long PIE could continue to co-exist
    with its daughter languages.  And how the answer might affect the direction
    of reconstructions.

This message provoked me to think about how one measures conservation between
languages, someting I had never put my mind to before. My first thought was to
use one of our numerical taxonomy packages to group words togther based on
phone similarity at the "same"position in the wowd. I guess something like
identifying edit distance. However now I have an alternative suggestion. What
if the PFSA tool I have previously described was used to deal with the
unchanged phonological components rather than the changed phonological
components? It seems to me that it would then measure the "stability" of the
phone elements over time rather than their "instability".

Jon
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