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comparative linguistics

American

noun

the study of the correspondences between languages that have a common origin.

Other Word Forms

comparative linguist

noun

Example Sentences

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By a method termed glotto-chronology, based on calculations of how rapidly words tend to change over historical time, comparative linguistics can even yield estimated dates for domestications or crop arrivals.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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