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Linguistic distances and ethnolinguistic fractionalization and disenfranchisement indices

Author

Listed:
  • Victor Ginsburgh
  • Shlomo Weber

Abstract

Ruhlen (1994) reconstructed 27 words of the very first language. Some linguists raised eyebrows about the words themselves, but not so much about the idea that all our languages descend from one, or a very small number of, language(s). 1 Today, most linguists think that the diversity of languages is the result of the migration ‘out of Africa’ of Homo sapiens over the last 50,000 to 100,000 years (Michalopoulos, 2012; Ashraf and Galor, 2013). If this is so, languages can be represented in the form of a tree similar to genealogical trees, starting with a root representing the first language, or ancestor, and followed by branches and twigs for descendants. This implies of course that languages are related by their vocabulary, syntax, phonology, etc. in the same way as children are related to their parents and more distant ancestors by some of their genes. Genetic differences are relatively easy to trace and DNA analyses have become common, for instance, in the case of disputed parenthood. It is, however, more difficult to ‘count’ the (dis)similarities between languages, since many characteristics, and not only vocabularies, are involved.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Ginsburgh & Shlomo Weber, 2016. "Linguistic distances and ethnolinguistic fractionalization and disenfranchisement indices," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/236842, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/236842
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    Cited by:

    1. Ibrahim Bousmah & Gilles Grenier & David M. Gray, 2021. "Linguistic Distance, Languages of Work and Wages of Immigrants in Montreal," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 1-28, March.
    2. Andrew Dickens, 2017. "Ethnolinguistic Favoritism in African Politics," Working Papers 1702, Brock University, Department of Economics.
    3. Andrew Dickens, 2022. "Understanding Ethnolinguistic Differences: The Roles of Geography and Trade," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 953-980.
    4. Gershman, Boris & Rivera, Diego, 2018. "Subnational diversity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from a new dataset," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 231-263.

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