Comparative Methodology

[LV Hayes]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 15:01:41 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Rich Alderson <alderson+mail at panix.com>
>
>>I also didn't include a phase that would cover situations
>>where the languages compared split off the ancestral node at
>>different times, such that reconstruction of one or more
>>intermediary proto-languages might be necessary.  This phase
>>would also require iteration of at least some of the
>>preceding phases.
>
>The comparative method in and of itself cannot give you this
>result, which is rather a matter of the interpretation of the
>results.  CM on its own yields a single flat proto-language
>for all the languages compared; to obtain intermediate
>branchings, one must compare smaller subsets of the entire set
>of comparanda, and determine whether the result is
>significantly different from that of comparing the whole set.

I was thinking initially of the simplest case where 2 languages are
compared in order to reconstruct the proto-language of which the 2 are
direct descendants.  This scenario would provide the initial guidelines to
establishing the requisite phases and steps.  Then, more complex situations
could be addressed.

Once established, those phases and steps could hopefully be applied to more
complex situations, either as a block or in part as needed, but it appears
that things won't be quite that simple.

LV Hayes
lvhayes at worldnet.att.net