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Glotto chronologic theory: Valid or not in Chinese languages?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Stanley R. Munro
Stanley R. Munro*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
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Extract

While reading the literature on glottochronology, I felt that there might be a special case which Swadesh, Lees, et al. had not accounted for: one which would not follow the same rate of divergence for basic vocabulary as they had generally predicted. This is the case in which languages diverge from a common proto language, but which nevertheless retain a common writing system—particularly a writing system which has no direct relationship to the phonemic system of the language. It could be hypothesized that due to the cohesive bond that might occur in languages with such a common writing system, the languages ought to diverge at a much slower rate than 80.5% retention per 1000 years as in the case of Lees’ findings (Lees 1953: 118-9), or 86% retention per 1000 years as in the case of Swadesh’s revised 100 word list (Swadesh 1955: 133-7). Subconsciously, my feelings about the Chinese “dialects” influenced me, particularly since I had already pre-judged the case and had assumed that the dialects diverged at a rate slower than Lees and Swadesh had predicted.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 23 , Issue 1-2 , Spring/Fall 1978 , pp. 55 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1978

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