Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics

This paper presents epistemological and methodological problems found in work on the subgrouping of Sino-Tibetan languages and the reconstruction of features of the languages. A key problem is the lack of an accepted standard for judging this work, one that can stand up to statistical evaluation. An...

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Main Author:	LaPolla, Randy J.
Other Authors:	School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	2014
Subjects:	DRNTU::Humanities::Linguistics
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96242 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/20451 http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/v7-1-3.asp.htm
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Institution:	Nanyang Technological University
Language:	English

id	sg-ntu-dr.10356-96242
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spelling	sg-ntu-dr.10356-962422019-12-06T19:27:45Z Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics LaPolla, Randy J. School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Humanities::Linguistics This paper presents epistemological and methodological problems found in work on the subgrouping of Sino-Tibetan languages and the reconstruction of features of the languages. A key problem is the lack of an accepted standard for judging this work, one that can stand up to statistical evaluation. An alternative methodology that involves using fixed sets of features to give us the statistical probability of common origin is suggested. Published version 2014-09-01T05:40:03Z 2019-12-06T19:27:45Z 2014-09-01T05:40:03Z 2019-12-06T19:27:45Z 2012 2012 Journal Article LaPolla, Randy J. 2012. Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics. Language and Linguistics (Special issue on Sino-Tibetan Comparative Studies), 13(1), 117-132. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96242 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/20451 http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/v7-1-3.asp.htm en Language and linguistics © 2012 The Author(s). This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by Language and Linguistics, the Author(s). It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document. The published version is available at: [http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/v7-1-3.asp.htm]. 17 p. application/pdf
institution	Nanyang Technological University
building	NTU Library
country	Singapore
collection	DR-NTU
language	English
topic	DRNTU::Humanities::Linguistics
spellingShingle	DRNTU::Humanities::Linguistics LaPolla, Randy J. Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics
description	This paper presents epistemological and methodological problems found in work on the subgrouping of Sino-Tibetan languages and the reconstruction of features of the languages. A key problem is the lack of an accepted standard for judging this work, one that can stand up to statistical evaluation. An alternative methodology that involves using fixed sets of features to give us the statistical probability of common origin is suggested.
author2	School of Humanities and Social Sciences
author_facet	School of Humanities and Social Sciences LaPolla, Randy J.
format	Article
author	LaPolla, Randy J.
author_sort	LaPolla, Randy J.
title	Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics
title_short	Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics
title_full	Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics
title_fullStr	Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics
title_full_unstemmed	Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics
title_sort	comments on methodology and evidence in sino-tibetan comparative linguistics
publishDate	2014
url	https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96242 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/20451 http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/v7-1-3.asp.htm
_version_	1681042322108710912

Comments on methodology and evidence in Sino-Tibetan comparative linguistics

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