There is a shorter way. We can start with a subset of the Swadesh list. Yakhontov
already has a shorter version which has 35 words. A simple metric should probably
be based on Boolean ideas. 32 is a good number since it is a power of 2. I already
got started but haven't had time to pay attention to it. If anyone is interested, we can
collaborate.

tgpedersen wrote:

--- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com, "H.M. Hubey" <hubeyh@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> I think what linguistics needs is a "semantic metric". I know how
to
> derive at least two different
> ones from data but need time and money :-) I think all linguists
should
> appreciate the need for
> semantic metrics. It does not matter how many. That could always be
> worked out, fixed,
> repaired, improved etc. The trick is to get going.
>
That would require us to know some canonical development of a
canonical set of concepts. That is a tall order.

Torsten



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-- 
M. Hubey
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The only difference between humans and machines is that humans
can be created by unskilled labor. Arthur C. Clarke

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