Linguipedia: New page: In genealogical linguistics, the term '''genus''' is used (following Matthew Dryer's work) to refer to a level of genealogical classification that is comparabl...

2007-07-12T17:21:29Z

New page: In genealogical linguistics, the term '''genus''' is used (following Matthew Dryer's work) to refer to a level of genealogical classification that is comparabl...

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In [[genealogical linguistics]], the term '''genus''' is used (following [[Matthew S. Dryer|Matthew Dryer]]'s work) to refer to a level of genealogical [[classification]] that is comparable across the world and whose [[time depth]] is not greater than 4000 years.

:::*''"In the genealogical classification of languages, a genus is a group of languages whose relatedness is fairly obvious without systematic comparative analysis, and which even the most conservative "splitter" would accept."'' (Dryer 2005:584)

===Term properties===
The plural of ''genus'' is ''genera''.

===Examples===
Typical examples of genera are the subfamilies of Indo-European (Germanic, Slavic, Celtic, Romance). Some families are so close-knit that they constitute a single genus, e.g. Turkic, Mongolic, Athapaskan, Algonquian, Mayan, Arawakan, Cariban. See Dryer (2005) for a list of 2560 languages, arranged by family and genus.

===Origin===
The term was introduced by [[Matthew S. Dryer|Dryer]] (1989:267). Dryer attributes it to a suggestion by [[William Croft]].

:::*"First, the languages are grouped into genetic groups roughly comparable to the subfamilies of Indo-European, like Germanic and Romance. I refer to each of these groups as a ''genus'' (following a suggestion by Bill Croft), since they are rather analogous to the taxonomic level of ''genus'' in biology." (Dryer 1989:267)

===Reference===
*[[Dryer, Matthew S.]] 1989. Large linguistic areas and language sampling. ''Studies in Language'' 13.2:257-292.
*[[Dryer, Matthew S.]] 2005. Genealogical language list. In: Haspelmath, Martin & Dryer, Matthew S. & Gil, David & Comrie, Bernard (eds.) ''The World Atlas of Language Structures.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 584-644.

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[[Category:Genealogy]]

Genus - Revision history

Linguipedia: New page: In genealogical linguistics, the term '''genus''' is used (following Matthew Dryer's work) to refer to a level of genealogical classification that is comparabl...