Richard Wordingham wrote:

---

Weighting is one thing that calculated replacement rates can be used
for.  Mind you, I got criticised for using IE replacement rates to
assess a comparison of Austronesian and Austro-Asiatic (or rather
Malayo-Polynesian and Mon-Khmer as the data turned out).

It would not be too difficult, it seems to me, to start with the differential equation and put a time
varying coefficient and try to fit the data and estimate the coeffiecient. Is that not possible?

I think, truthfully, that it is too early to do that. The IE situation is not too clear. It seems to me
that you should start with the aborigine languages of Australia. They are isolated,  and there is
less chance of other factors botching up the estimation.  The time period is reasonably clear
too :-); anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 years.

I think it would be desirable to find some way of capturing cognates
when their meaning has drifted apart.  It looks laborious, if only
because some way would have to be found to compensate for allowing
more false matches in.

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.

Richard.

-- 
M. Hubey
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can be created by unskilled labor. Arthur C. Clarke

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