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Office, E.E. Glottochronology. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60026 (accessed on 07 October 2026).
Office EE. Glottochronology. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60026. Accessed October 07, 2026.
Office, Encyclopedia Editorial. "Glottochronology" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60026 (accessed October 07, 2026).
Office, E.E. (2026, September 15). Glottochronology. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/60026
Office, Encyclopedia Editorial. "Glottochronology." Encyclopedia. Web. 15 September, 2026.
Glottochronology
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Glottochronology is a quantitative method in historical linguistics for estimating the time depth of divergence between related languages or language varieties from the proportion of shared cognates in a selected set of vocabulary items. It is based on the assumption that lexical replacement occurs at an approximately measurable average rate within a specified lexical domain, commonly basic vocabulary, so that lower cognate retention is interpreted as indicating a longer period since linguistic separation [1]. The method typically uses lexicostatistical comparison to identify cognate items and applies a mathematical model of lexical retention to convert the resulting similarity proportion into an estimated date of divergence [2]. Glottochronology is therefore distinct from comparative linguistic analysis used to establish genetic relatedness itself: it presupposes a set of related languages and concerns the chronological estimation derived from their lexical correspondence data [1][2].

historical linguistics lexicostatistics cognates lexical replacement

References

  1. Swadesh, M. Lexico-Statistic Dating of Prehistoric Ethnic Contacts. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 1952, 96, 452–463. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3143802
  2. Morris Swadesh; Towards Greater Accuracy in Lexicostatistic Dating. Int. J. Am. Linguistics 1955, 21, 121-137. [CrossRef]
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