Linkage (linguistics)

For other uses, see Linkage.

In historical linguistics, a linkage is a network of related dialects or languages that formed from a gradual diffusion and differentiation of a proto-language.[1]

The term was introduced by Malcolm Ross in his study of Western Oceanic languages (Ross 1988). It is contrasted with a family, which arises when the proto-language speech community separates into groups that remain isolated from each other and do not form a network.[2]

  1. ^ "I use the term linkage to refer to a group of communalects [i.e. dialects or languages] which have arisen by dialect differentiation" (Ross 1988, p. 8).
  2. ^ "I use the term family to refer to a group of communalects which have diversified from a single language by separation, rather than by dialect differentiation" (Ross 1988, p. 8).