Phylogenies probing Grammar. Exploring morphosyntax at different scales of language change

Introduction

Morphosyntactic properties have long been considered a great challenge for the reconstruction of language history. On the one hand, they can establish deep genealogical relationships because they remain stable for millennia and evolve slowly in time, serving as markers for families.

On the other hand, they may emerge abruptly as a result of borrowing from one language to another or language restructuring under contact. At the same time, grammars develop common properties independently of history and geography, reflecting universal trends.

Recent Findings

Recent findings have shown that morphosyntactic variability significantly correlates with genetic variability, supporting the potential of morphosyntax to unravel both genetic and cultural evolutionary history. Yet the first attempts to reconstruct phylogenetic trees based on morphosyntactic data have been limited in terms of precision and resolution.

There are major disagreements on the genealogical stability and diffusability of morphosyntactic features.

Project Goals

PhylProGramm aims to break new ground in linguistics by pioneering a new way to evaluate morphosyntax in terms of the historical information it contains, using phylogenetic inference methods as a tool.

Based on preliminary results which have shown that trees constructed from morphosyntactic data reflect historical and geographical relationships, we devise novel computational methods that allow us to determine, in combination with rigorous linguistic evaluation, which features are:

1. Conservative
2. Prone to transfers/borrowings
3. Reflect universal patterns at the scales of micro-variation, meso-variation, and macro-variation

Investigation Outcomes

The investigation will lead us to formulate and explain the profile of specific units, their interactions, their organization into networks and/or hierarchies associated with different scales of variation, and their representation in grammar.

This will provide a unique window into the dynamics and typology of language change and variation.