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Available in 4 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-4" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">4 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A9_%D9%84%D8%BA%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%81%D8%A9" title="مقارنة لغوية زائفة – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="مقارنة لغوية زائفة" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9D%98%EC%82%AC%EC%96%B8%EC%96%B4%EB%B9%84%EA%B5%90" title="의사언어비교 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="의사언어비교" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternat%C3%ADv_nyelv-%C3%B6sszehasonl%C3%ADt%C3%A1s" title="Alternatív nyelv-összehasonlítás – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Alternatív nyelv-összehasonlítás" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%81%87%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%B8%E5%98%85%E8%AA%9E%E8%A8%80%E6%AF%94%E8%BC%83" title="假科學嘅語言比較 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="假科學嘅語言比較" 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class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Form of pseudo-scholarship</div> <p> <b>Pseudoscientific<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> language comparison</b> is a form of <a href="/wiki/Pseudo-scholarship" title="Pseudo-scholarship">pseudo-scholarship</a> that aims to establish historical associations between languages by naïve postulations of similarities between them. </p><p>While <a href="/wiki/Comparative_linguistics" title="Comparative linguistics">comparative linguistics</a> also studies how languages are historically related, linguistic comparisons are deemed pseudoscientific when they do not follow the established practices. Pseudoscientific language comparison is usually performed by people with little or no specialization in the field of comparative linguistics. It is a widespread type of linguistic pseudoscience. </p><p>The most common method applied in pseudoscientific language comparisons is to search different languages for words that sound and mean alike. Such similarities often seem convincing to common folks, but linguistic scientists see this kind of comparison as unreliable for two primary reasons. First, the criterion of similarity is subjective and thus not subject to <a href="/wiki/Falsifiability" title="Falsifiability">verification or falsification</a>, which runs against scientific principles. Second, because there are so many words, it is easy to find <a href="/wiki/False_cognate" title="False cognate">coincidental similarities</a>. </p><p>Because of its lack of reliability, the method of searching for isolated similar words is rejected by nearly all comparative linguists (however, see <a href="/wiki/Mass_comparison" title="Mass comparison">mass comparison</a> for a controversial method that operates by similarity). Instead, experts use the <a href="/wiki/Comparative_method" title="Comparative method">comparative method</a>. This means that they search for consistent patterns between the languages' <a href="/wiki/Phonology" title="Phonology">phonology</a>, <a href="/wiki/Grammar" title="Grammar">grammar</a> and core vocabulary. This technique helps linguists to figure out whether the hypothesized relatedness really exists. </p><p>Certain languages seem to get much more attention in pseudoscientific comparisons than others. These include languages of <a href="/wiki/Ancient_civilizations" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancient civilizations">ancient civilizations</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Egyptian_language" title="Egyptian language">Egyptian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Etruscan_language" title="Etruscan language">Etruscan</a> or <a href="/wiki/Sumerian_language" title="Sumerian language">Sumerian</a>; <a href="/wiki/Language_isolates" class="mw-redirect" title="Language isolates">language isolates</a> or near-isolates such as <a href="/wiki/Basque_language" title="Basque language">Basque</a>, <a href="/wiki/Japanese_language" title="Japanese language">Japanese</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ainu_language" title="Ainu language">Ainu</a>; and languages that are not related to their geographical neighbors such as <a href="/wiki/Hungarian_language" title="Hungarian language">Hungarian</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Political_or_religious_implications">Political or religious implications</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Political or religious implications"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Sometimes, languages are associated for political or religious reasons, despite a lack of support from accepted methods of <a href="/wiki/Scientific_method" title="Scientific method">science</a> or <a href="/wiki/Historical_linguistics" title="Historical linguistics">historical linguistics</a>. For example, it was argued by Niclas Wahlgren that <a href="/wiki/Herman_Lundborg" class="mw-redirect" title="Herman Lundborg">Herman Lundborg</a> encouraged that the posited <a href="/wiki/Ural-Altaic_languages" title="Ural-Altaic languages">Ural-Altaic</a> or <a href="/wiki/Turanian_languages" title="Turanian languages">Turanian</a>, language family, which seeks to relate <a href="/wiki/Sami_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Sami languages">Sami</a> to the <a href="/wiki/Mongolian_language" title="Mongolian language">Mongolian language</a>, was used to justify <a href="/wiki/Sweden" title="Sweden">Swedish</a> <a href="/wiki/Discrimination_against_the_Sami_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Discrimination against the Sami people">racism towards the Sami people</a> in particular.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (There are also strong, albeit <a href="/wiki/Areal_feature" title="Areal feature">areal</a> not <a href="/wiki/Language_family" title="Language family">genetic</a>, similarities between the <a href="/wiki/Uralic_languages" title="Uralic languages">Uralic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Altaic_languages" title="Altaic languages">Altaic</a> languages, which provide a more benign but nonetheless incorrect basis for this theory.)<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles#Stay_on_topic" title="Wikipedia:Writing better articles"><span title="The material near this tag may contain information that is not relevant to the article's main topic. (May 2023)">relevant?</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Some believers in <a href="/wiki/Abrahamic_religions" title="Abrahamic religions">Abrahamic religions</a> have sought to derive their native languages from <a href="/wiki/Classical_Hebrew" class="mw-redirect" title="Classical Hebrew">Classical Hebrew</a>. For example, <a href="/wiki/Herbert_W._Armstrong" title="Herbert W. Armstrong">Herbert W. Armstrong</a>, a proponent of <a href="/wiki/British_Israelism" title="British Israelism">British Israelism</a>, claimed that the word 'British' comes from Hebrew <span title="Hebrew-language text"><span lang="he" dir="rtl">בְּרִית</span></span> <span title="ISO 259 Hebrew (Hebrew language) transliteration"><i lang="he-Latn">brit</i></span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[bʁit]</span> <span class="gloss-quot">'</span><span class="gloss-text"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/covenant" class="extiw" title="wikt:covenant">covenant</a></span><span class="gloss-quot">'</span> and <span title="Hebrew-language text"><span lang="he" dir="rtl">אּישׁ</span></span> <span title="ISO 259 Hebrew (Hebrew language) transliteration"><i lang="he-Latn">ʾiš</i></span> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[iʃ]</span> <span class="gloss-quot">'</span><span class="gloss-text">man</span><span class="gloss-quot">'</span>, as supposed proof that the British people are the 'covenant people' of God. Pre-modern scholars of the <a href="/wiki/Hebrew_Bible" title="Hebrew Bible">Hebrew Bible</a>, debating the <a href="/wiki/Adamic_language" title="Adamic language">language spoken by Adam and Eve</a>, often relied on belief in the literal truth of <a href="/wiki/Book_of_Genesis" title="Book of Genesis">Genesis</a> and of the accuracy of the names transcribed therein. On the other hand, <a href="/wiki/Renaissance" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a> scholars <a href="/wiki/Johannes_Goropius_Becanus" title="Johannes Goropius Becanus">Johannes Goropius Becanus</a> (1519–1572) and <a href="/wiki/Simon_Stevin" title="Simon Stevin">Simon Stevin</a> argued that the Adamic language had been a dialect of their own native language, <a href="/wiki/Dutch_(language)" class="mw-redirect" title="Dutch (language)">Dutch</a>. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Sun_Language_Theory" title="Sun Language Theory">Sun Language Theory</a>, positing a proto-<a href="/wiki/Turkic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Turkic language">Turkic language</a> as the ancestor of all human languages, was motivated by <a href="/wiki/Turkish_nationalism" title="Turkish nationalism">Turkish nationalism</a>. </p><p>The Israeli-American linguist <a href="/wiki/Paul_Wexler_(linguist)" title="Paul Wexler (linguist)">Paul Wexler</a> is known for his <a href="/wiki/Fringe_theories" class="mw-redirect" title="Fringe theories">fringe theories</a><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-KutzikJunkScience_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-KutzikJunkScience-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> about the origin of <a href="/wiki/Jewish_population" class="mw-redirect" title="Jewish population">Jewish populations</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jewish_languages" title="Jewish languages">Jewish languages</a>: </p> <ul><li>that most <a href="/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews" title="Ashkenazi Jews">Ashkenazi Jews</a> are of <a href="/wiki/Turkic_peoples" title="Turkic peoples">Turkic</a> origin, and that their language, <a href="/wiki/Yiddish" title="Yiddish">Yiddish</a>, ultimately comes from <a href="/wiki/Judaeo-Slavic" class="mw-redirect" title="Judaeo-Slavic">Judaeo-Slavic</a><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>that most <a href="/wiki/Sephardi_Jews" class="mw-redirect" title="Sephardi Jews">Sephardi Jews</a> are of <a href="/wiki/Berbers" title="Berbers">Berber</a> origin, as is their language, <a href="/wiki/Ladino_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Ladino language">Ladino</a></li></ul> <p>In the mid-1900s, The <a href="/wiki/Lithuania" title="Lithuania">Lithuanian</a>–American <a href="/wiki/Archaeologist" class="mw-redirect" title="Archaeologist">archaeologist</a> <a href="/wiki/Marija_Gimbutas" title="Marija Gimbutas">Marija Gimbutas</a> argued that Basque is clearly related to the extinct <a href="/wiki/Pictish_language" title="Pictish language">Pictish</a> and Etruscan languages, even though at least the comparison had earlier been rejected within a decade of being proposed in 1892 by <a href="/wiki/Sir_John_Rhys" class="mw-redirect" title="Sir John Rhys">Sir John Rhys</a>. She wanted to show Basque was a remnant of an "<a href="/wiki/Old_European_culture" class="mw-redirect" title="Old European culture">Old European culture</a>".<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Traits_and_characteristics">Traits and characteristics</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Traits and characteristics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Original_research plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Original_research" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/40px-Ambox_important.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/60px-Ambox_important.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/80px-Ambox_important.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="40" data-file-height="40" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>possibly contains <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research" title="Wikipedia:No original research">original research</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit">improve it</a> by <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verifying</a> the claims made and adding <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#Inline_citations" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">inline citations</a>. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">June 2014</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>There is no universal way to spot pseudoscientific language comparisons. Indeed, such comparisons may not fit into one single category. However, the following characteristics tend to be more common among pseudoscientific theories (and the people who support them) than among scientific ones: </p> <ul><li>Failure to apply an accepted, or at least systematic, method to show regular correspondences between the languages. Unsystematic comparisons are effectively unfalsifiable.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETrask1996395_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTETrask1996395-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Failure to present grammatical evidence for relatedness: claims are based exclusively on word comparisons, even though in comparative linguistics grammatical evidence is also needed to confirm relatedness.</li> <li>Arbitrary segmentation of compared forms: comparisons are based on the similarity of only a part of the words compared (usually the first syllable), while the rest of the word is ignored.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998322_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998322-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Disregard for the effects of <a href="/wiki/Morphology_(linguistics)" title="Morphology (linguistics)">morphology</a> on word structure: uninflected <a href="/wiki/Root_(linguistics)" title="Root (linguistics)">root</a> forms may be compared with fully inflected forms, or <a href="/wiki/Markedness" title="Markedness">marked</a> forms may be used in preference to lesser- or unmarked forms.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998323–324_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998323–324-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996460_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996460-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Not thinking about borrowing and <a href="/wiki/Areal_feature" title="Areal feature">areal features</a>. Neighboring languages may share much vocabulary and many grammatical features due to <a href="/wiki/Language_contact" title="Language contact">language contact</a>. To really know whether the similarities result from contact or from relatedness, we need to use the <a href="/wiki/Comparative_method" title="Comparative method">comparative method</a> adequately.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996462–464_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996462–464-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Relying on typological similarities between languages: the <a href="/wiki/Morphological_typology" title="Morphological typology">morphological type</a> of the language is claimed to provide evidence for relatedness, but in comparative linguistics only material parallels are accepted as evidence of a historical connection.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996463–464_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996463–464-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Neglect of known history: present-day forms of words are used in comparisons, neglecting either the attested or the <a href="/wiki/Linguistic_reconstruction" title="Linguistic reconstruction">reconstructed</a> history of the language in question, or words of varying time depths (such as current, archaic, and reconstructed words) and reliability of reconstruction are used interchangeably.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTETrask1996395_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTETrask1996395-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>Advocation of geographically far-fetched connections,<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2014)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> such as comparing <a href="/wiki/Finnish_language" title="Finnish language">Finnish</a> (in <a href="/wiki/Finland" title="Finland">Finland</a>) to <a href="/wiki/Quechua_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Quechua languages">Quechua</a> (in <a href="/wiki/Peru" title="Peru">Peru</a>), or <a href="/wiki/Basque_language" title="Basque language">Basque</a> (in <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> and <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a>) to <a href="/wiki/Ainu_language" title="Ainu language">Ainu</a> (in <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>), or <a href="/wiki/Castilian_Spanish" title="Castilian Spanish">Castilian</a> (in Spain) to <a href="/wiki/Japanese_language" title="Japanese language">Japanese</a> (in Japan). This criterion is only suggestive, though, as a long distance does not exclude the possibility of a relationship: <a href="/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English</a> is demonstrably related to <a href="/wiki/Hindi" title="Hindi">Hindi</a> (in <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>), and <a href="/wiki/Hawaiian_language" title="Hawaiian language">Hawaiian</a> to <a href="/wiki/Malagasy_language" title="Malagasy language">Malagasy</a> (on <a href="/wiki/Madagascar" title="Madagascar">Madagascar</a>).</li> <li>Advocacy of fanciful narratives based on the purported linguistic findings, e.g. claims of unknown civilizations or ancient people traveling across oceans.</li></ul> <p>Proponents of pseudoscientific language comparisons also tend to share <a href="/wiki/Crank_(person)#Common_characteristics_of_cranks" title="Crank (person)">some common characteristics</a> with <a href="/wiki/Crank_(person)" title="Crank (person)">cranks</a> in other fields of science: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect" class="mw-redirect" title="Dunning-Kruger effect">Overestimation of their own knowledge or competence</a> in one or more of the languages under comparison, or their historical development, and underestimation of experts' knowledge. For example, assigning of incorrect meanings to words or sentences, quoting of rare or even fake <a href="/wiki/Lexeme" title="Lexeme">lexemes</a>, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Morph_(linguistics)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Morph (linguistics) (page does not exist)">morphs</a> or meanings or of obscure dialect forms, misinterpretation of what experts have written, or ignorance of important facts. When forms and meanings are simply compiled and quoted from dictionaries (or even only a single source), inaccuracies creep in very easily.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325–326_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325–326-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Even linguistically trained native speakers may not be experts in their own language, its dialectology, and its history; and even professional linguists may not be experts in large numbers of diverse languages and families.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research" title="Wikipedia:No original research"><span title="The material near this tag possibly contains original research. (June 2014)">original research?</span></a></i>]</sup></li> <li>Claims that the purported remote linguistic relationship is clear. A distant relationship between languages is usually not obvious on a superficial examination, and can only be uncovered via a successful application of the <a href="/wiki/Comparative_method" title="Comparative method">comparative method</a>.</li> <li>Failure to submit results to <a href="/wiki/Peer_review" title="Peer review">peer reviewed</a> linguistic journals.</li> <li>Assertion that people who criticize the theory are just stuck in old ways, have ideological motivations, or are part of a secret plan by the language experts.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alternative_theories_of_Hungarian_language_origins" title="Alternative theories of Hungarian language origins">Alternative theories of Hungarian language origins</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bongo-Bongo_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bongo-Bongo (linguistics)">Bongo-Bongo (linguistics)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cal-Ugrian_theory" class="mw-redirect" title="Cal-Ugrian theory">Cal-Ugrian theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_cognate" title="False cognate">False cognate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_etymology" title="False etymology">False etymology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Folk_linguistics" title="Folk linguistics">Folk linguistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lumpers_and_splitters" title="Lumpers and splitters">Lumpers and splitters</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mythical_origins_of_language" title="Mythical origins of language">Mythical origins of language</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proto-World" class="mw-redirect" title="Proto-World">Proto-World</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFThomasonPoser2020" class="citation journal cs1">Thomason, Sarah; Poser, William (2020). "Fantastic Linguistics". <i>Annual Review of Linguistics</i>. <b>6</b> (1): 457–468. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev-linguistics-011619-030459">10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011619-030459</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:243674477">243674477</a>. <q>Fringe and crackpot claims about language display the standard pseudoscientific characteristics discussed many years ago by Martin Gardner (1957) and by numerous observers since then, such as Michael Shermer (2011)</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Annual+Review+of+Linguistics&rft.atitle=Fantastic+Linguistics&rft.volume=6&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=457-468&rft.date=2020&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1146%2Fannurev-linguistics-011619-030459&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A243674477%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Thomason&rft.aufirst=Sarah&rft.au=Poser%2C+William&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWahlgren" class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source">Wahlgren, Niclas. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110615133919/http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d95-nwa/rasII.html">"Något om rastänkandet i Sverige"</a> [Something about racial thinking in Sweden] (in Swedish). Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d95-nwa/rasII.html">the original</a> on 15 June 2011.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=N%C3%A5got+om+rast%C3%A4nkandet+i+Sverige&rft.aulast=Wahlgren&rft.aufirst=Niclas&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.student.nada.kth.se%2F~d95-nwa%2FrasII.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKaplan2016" class="citation news cs1">Kaplan, Rose (26 April 2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/200977/study-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey">"Study Claims Yiddish Originated in Turkey"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Tablet_(magazine)" title="Tablet (magazine)">Tablet</a></i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Tablet&rft.atitle=Study+Claims+Yiddish+Originated+in+Turkey&rft.date=2016-04-26&rft.aulast=Kaplan&rft.aufirst=Rose&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tabletmag.com%2Fscroll%2F200977%2Fstudy-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-KutzikJunkScience-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-KutzikJunkScience_4-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKutzix2016" class="citation news cs1">Kutzix, Jordan (28 April 2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221030165312/https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/study-claims-yiddish-originated-in-turkey">"Don't Buy the Junk Science That Says Yiddish Originated in Turkey"</a>. The Forward. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://forward.com/opinion/339676/dont-buy-the-junk-science-that-says-yiddish-originated-in-turkey/">the original</a> on 30 October 2022<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 May</span> 2016</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Don%27t+Buy+the+Junk+Science+That+Says+Yiddish+Originated+in+Turkey&rft.date=2016-04-28&rft.aulast=Kutzix&rft.aufirst=Jordan&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fforward.com%2Fopinion%2F339676%2Fdont-buy-the-junk-science-that-says-yiddish-originated-in-turkey%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBolozky1994" class="citation book cs1">Bolozky, Shmuel (1994). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sLbGOXe5B6YC&pg=PA63">"On the Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew"</a>. In Stone, Russell A.; Zenner, Walter P. (eds.). <i>Critical Essays on Israeli Social Issues and Scholarship</i>. Vol. 3. SUNY Press. pp. 63–87. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7914-1959-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7914-1959-5"><bdi>978-0-7914-1959-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=On+the+Schizoid+Nature+of+Modern+Hebrew&rft.btitle=Critical+Essays+on+Israeli+Social+Issues+and+Scholarship&rft.pages=63-87&rft.pub=SUNY+Press&rft.date=1994&rft.isbn=978-0-7914-1959-5&rft.aulast=Bolozky&rft.aufirst=Shmuel&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DsLbGOXe5B6YC%26pg%3DPA63&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span> Review of <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWexler1990" class="citation book cs1">Wexler, Paul (1990). Borg, A.; Somekh, S.; Wexler, P. (eds.). <i>The Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew: A Slavic Language in Search of a Semitic Past</i>. Mediterranean Language and Culture Monograph Series. Vol. 4. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Schizoid+Nature+of+Modern+Hebrew%3A+A+Slavic+Language+in+Search+of+a+Semitic+Past&rft.place=Wiesbaden&rft.series=Mediterranean+Language+and+Culture+Monograph+Series&rft.pub=Otto+Harrassowitz&rft.date=1990&rft.aulast=Wexler&rft.aufirst=Paul&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWexler1991" class="citation journal cs1">Wexler, Paul (1991). "Yiddish—the fifteenth Slavic language. A study of partial language shift from Judeo-Sorbian to German". <i>International Journal of the Sociology of Language</i>. <b>1991</b> (91): 9–150. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fijsl.1991.91.9">10.1515/ijsl.1991.91.9</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:146835332">146835332</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=International+Journal+of+the+Sociology+of+Language&rft.atitle=Yiddish%E2%80%94the+fifteenth+Slavic+language.+A+study+of+partial+language+shift+from+Judeo-Sorbian+to+German&rft.volume=1991&rft.issue=91&rft.pages=9-150&rft.date=1991&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1515%2Fijsl.1991.91.9&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A146835332%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Wexler&rft.aufirst=Paul&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGimbutas2001" class="citation book cs1">Gimbutas, Marija (12 January 2001). <i>The Living Goddesses</i>. University of California Press. pp. 122, 171–175. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-520-22915-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-520-22915-0"><bdi>0-520-22915-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Living+Goddesses&rft.pages=122%2C+171-175&rft.pub=University+of+California+Press&rft.date=2001-01-12&rft.isbn=0-520-22915-0&rft.aulast=Gimbutas&rft.aufirst=Marija&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTETrask1996395-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETrask1996395_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTETrask1996395_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFTrask1996">Trask 1996</a>, p. 395.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998322-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998322_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFCampbell1998">Campbell 1998</a>, p. 322.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998323–324-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998323–324_10-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFCampbell1998">Campbell 1998</a>, pp. 323–324.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996460-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996460_11-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHockJoseph1996">Hock & Joseph 1996</a>, p. 460.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996462–464-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996462–464_12-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHockJoseph1996">Hock & Joseph 1996</a>, pp. 462–464.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996463–464-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEHockJoseph1996463–464_13-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHockJoseph1996">Hock & Joseph 1996</a>, pp. 463–464.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFCampbell1998">Campbell 1998</a>, p. 325.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325–326-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECampbell1998325–326_15-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFCampbell1998">Campbell 1998</a>, pp. 325–326.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFCampbell1998" class="citation book cs1">Campbell, Lyle (1998). <i>Historical Linguistics: An Introduction</i>. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-262-53159-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-262-53159-7"><bdi>978-0-262-53159-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Historical+Linguistics%3A+An+Introduction&rft.place=Cambridge%2C+Massachusetts&rft.pub=MIT+Press&rft.date=1998&rft.isbn=978-0-262-53159-7&rft.aulast=Campbell&rft.aufirst=Lyle&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTrask1996" class="citation book cs1">Trask, R. L. (1996). <i>Historical Linguistics</i>. London: Arnold. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-340-60758-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-340-60758-9"><bdi>978-0-340-60758-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Historical+Linguistics&rft.place=London&rft.pub=Arnold&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=978-0-340-60758-9&rft.aulast=Trask&rft.aufirst=R.+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHockJoseph1996" class="citation book cs1">Hock, Hans Henrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1996). <i>Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics</i>. Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-11-014784-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-3-11-014784-1"><bdi>978-3-11-014784-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Language+History%2C+Language+Change%2C+and+Language+Relationship%3A+An+Introduction+to+Historical+and+Comparative+Linguistics&rft.place=Berlin%3B+New+York&rft.pub=Mouton+de+Gruyter&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=978-3-11-014784-1&rft.aulast=Hock&rft.aufirst=Hans+Henrich&rft.au=Joseph%2C+Brian+D.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APseudoscientific+language+comparison" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pseudoscientific_language_comparison&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.zompist.com/chance.htm">How likely are chance resemblances between languages?</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.zompist.com/proto.html">Deriving Proto-World with tools you probably have at home</a></li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; 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