Usage in Lexicostatistics and Glottochronology
Such lexicostatistical test lists are used in lexicostatistics to define the subgrouping of languages, and in glottochronology to "provide dates for branching-points in the tree". Note that the task of defining (and counting the number) of cognate words in the list is far from trivial, and too often is subject to dispute, because cognates do not necessarily look similar, and recognition of cognates presupposes knowledge of the sound laws of the respective languages. For example, English 'wheel' and Sanskrit 'chakra' are cognates, although they are not recognizable as such without knowledge of the history of both languages. For more details, see the main articles.
Read more about this topic: Swadesh List
Famous quotes containing the word usage:
“Pythagoras, Locke, Socrates—but pages
Might be filled up, as vainly as before,
With the sad usage of all sorts of sages,
Who in his life-time, each was deemed a bore!
The loftiest minds outrun their tardy ages.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)