glottochronology
[glot-oh-kruh-nol-uh-jee, glot-uh-]
- the branch of lexicostatistics that studies the rate of replacement of vocabulary and attempts to determine what percentage of basic vocabulary two presently distinct but related languages share, using the information thus obtained to estimate how long ago they ceased being a single language.
Show More
Origin of glottochronology
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
glottochronology
- the use of lexicostatistics to establish that languages are historically related
Show More
Word Origin
C20 glotto-, from Greek glōtta tongue
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for glottochronology
n.
1953, from glotto- + chronology.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper