Genetic relationship (linguistics)

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In linguistics, genetic relationship is the usual term for the relationship which
exists between languages that are members of the same language family. The term
genealogical relationship is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the unrelated
use of the term in biological genetics. Languages that possess genetic ties with
one another belong to the same linguistic grouping, known as a language family.
These ties are established through use of the comparative method of linguistic
analysis.

Two languages are considered to be genetically related if one is descended from the
other or if both are descended from a common ancestor. For example, Italian is
descended from Latin. Italian and Latin are therefore said to be genetically
related. Spanish is also descended from Latin. Therefore, Spanish and Italian are
genetically related. In a similar way, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are
genetically related through the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European language
family.[1]

Contents [hide]
1 Language families
1.1 Linguistic interference and borrowing
2 Visual representation
3 Complications
4 See also
5 References
Language families[edit]
The classification of languages into language families begins by making a list of
words in the potential languages that exhibit lexical and grammatical similarities;
that is, they are similar in sound and meaning.[2] The next step is to determine
how the similarities originated. There are three possibilities: convergence,
borrowing and common origin.[2] Convergence is the chance similarity of sound and
meaning of a word in two different languages and "is based on the principle that a
word is an arbitrary association of sound and meaning".[2] An example of
convergence is that many unrelated languages have words similar to mama and papa
for 'mother' and 'father'.[2] Borrowing results from the exchanging of words
between languages in close contact with one another.[2] Once convergence and
borrowing have been eliminated as possible explanations for similarities in sound
and meaning of words, the last explanation is common origin. It can be assumed that
the similarities occurred due to descent from a common ancestor, and the words are
known as cognates.[2] The set of all cognates of a word is the etymology of the
word.[2]

Linguistic interference and borrowing[edit]

When languages are in contact with one another, either of them may influence the
other through linguistic interference such as borrowing. For example, French has
influenced English, Arabic has influenced Persian, and Chinese has influenced
Japanese in this way. However, such influence does not constitute (and is not a
measure of) a genetic relationship between the languages concerned. Linguistic
interference can occur between languages that are genetically closely related,
between languages that are distantly related (like English and French, which are
distantly related Indo-European languages) and between languages that have no
genetic relationship.

One theory concerning genetic relationships among languages is monogenesis � the

idea that all known languages, with the exceptions of creoles, pidgins and sign
languages, are descendant from a single ancestral language.[3]

Visual representation[edit]
A common visual representation of a language family is given by a genetic language
tree. The tree model is sometimes termed a dendrogram or phylogeny. The family tree
shows the relationship of the languages within in a family, much as a family tree
of an individual shows their relationship with their relatives. There are
criticisms to the family tree model. Critics focus mainly on the claim that the
internal structure of the trees is subject to variation based on the criteria of
classification.[4] Even among those who support the family tree model, there are
debates over which languages should be included in a language family. For example,
within the dubious Altaic language family, there are debates over whether the
Japonic and Koreanic languages should be included or not.[5]

The wave model has been proposed as an alternative to the tree model.[6] The wave
model groups languages, represented as isoglosses, and tracks the progress of
language variation. The wave model does not rely on the nesting pattern inherent to
the tree model. While the tree model implies a lack of contact between languages
after derivation from an ancestral form, the wave model shows the relationship
between languages that remain in contact, which is more realistic.[6]

Complications[edit]
Some problems encountered by the genetic relationship group of languages include
language isolates and mixed, pidgin and creole languages. Mixed languages, pidgins
and creole languages constitute special genetic types of languages. They do not
descend linearly or directly from a single language and have no single ancestor.
Language isolates are languages that are unrelated to other languages. Each
language isolate is considered to be a single language family with one language
according to the Ethnologue.[1] Including language isolates when counting language
families considerably increases the number of language families.

See also[edit]
Language family
Comparative linguistics
Language isolate
Sprachbund
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.).
Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL
International, 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Ruhlen, Merritt. On the Origin of Languages: Studies in
Linguistic Taxonomy. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1994. Print.
Jump up ^ Nichols, Johanna. Monogenesis or Polygenesis: A Single Ancestral Language
for All Humanity? Ch. 58 of The Oxford Handbook of Language Evolution, ed. by
Maggie Tallerman and Kathleen Rita Gibson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. 558-72. Print.
Jump up ^ Edzard, Lutz. Polygenesis, Convergence, and Entropy: An Alternative Model
of Linguistic Evolution Applied to Semitic Linguistics. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz,
1998. Print.
Jump up ^ Georg, Stefan, Peter A. Michalove, Alexis Manaster Ramer, and Paul J.
Sidwell. Telling General Linguists about Altaic. Journal of Linguistics 35.1
(1999): 65-98. Print.
^ Jump up to: a b Francois, Alexandre. Trees, Waves and Linkages: Models of
Language Diversification. In The Routledge Handbook of Historical Linguistics, ed.
by Claire Bowern and Bethwyn Evans. New York: Routledge, 2014, pp.161-189. (ISBN
978-0-41552-789-7).
Categories: Historical linguistics
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