03-06-2013, 04:38 AM
Well, I think it would be important to use more languages and dialects.
For example, do the relationships match up with different outgroups and with the addition of classic Attic Greek or Koine Greek from different periods? The different outgroups would compensate if Hittite has developed more quickly or more slowly, and if the branching between Hittite and the rest of the family has been misdated. The different Greek dialects and phases would check if the model puts them in the right time periods relative to present-day Greek.
I suppose - there is work on developing linguistic trees with the fewest borrowings. Glottochronology measures distance, but rapid change in one language can throw off branching orders. Least-borrowing methods, I believe one term was 'perfect philogenetic trees,' might be able to determine branching orders, but cannot measure distance. Perhaps using one method to determine branching order and the other to determine distance would work better than either one alone? I am not a linguist but it sounds possible...
For example, do the relationships match up with different outgroups and with the addition of classic Attic Greek or Koine Greek from different periods? The different outgroups would compensate if Hittite has developed more quickly or more slowly, and if the branching between Hittite and the rest of the family has been misdated. The different Greek dialects and phases would check if the model puts them in the right time periods relative to present-day Greek.
I suppose - there is work on developing linguistic trees with the fewest borrowings. Glottochronology measures distance, but rapid change in one language can throw off branching orders. Least-borrowing methods, I believe one term was 'perfect philogenetic trees,' might be able to determine branching orders, but cannot measure distance. Perhaps using one method to determine branching order and the other to determine distance would work better than either one alone? I am not a linguist but it sounds possible...
