Johann‐mattis List
Biographic Data
| ID | 1666131 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Johann‐mattis List |
| GIVEN NAMES | Johann‐mattis |
| FAMILY NAME | List |
| SIGNATURE | LIST J M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2133-8919 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
From Psycholinguistics to Computer Vision. A Comprehensive Review of Object Naming Data and Studies
In recent years, much research has focused on what happens in the human brain when a perceptual stimulus, such as a picture, is converted into linguistic content, a word. This process is commonly referred to as object naming and is considered a crucial aspect of language processing, production, and cognition. It refers to the identification of an object with a word or phrase, as well as the psychometric method of investigating this human behavior…
Annotating cognates in phylogenetic studies of Southeast Asian languages
Compounding and derivation are frequent in many language families. As a consequence, words in different languages are often only partially cognate, sharing some but not all morphemes. While partial cognates do not constitute a problem for the phonological reconstruction of individual morphemes, they are problematic for phylogenetic reconstruction based on comparative word lists. We review current practices of preparing cognate-coded word lists an…
A recent northern origin for the Uto-Aztecan family
A recent northern origin for the Uto-Aztecan family
The Uto-Aztecan language family is one of the largest language families in the Americas. However, there has been considerable debate about its origin and how it spread. Here we use Bayesian phylogenetic methods to analyze lexical data from thirty-four Uto-Aztecan varieties and two Kiowa-Tanoan languages. We infer the age of Proto-Uto-Aztecan to be around 4,100 years (3,258-5,025 years) and identify the most likely homeland to be near what is now …
From Text to Thought
Humans have been using language for millennia but have only just begun to scratch the surface of what natural language can reveal about the mind. Here we propose that language offers a unique window into psychology. After briefly summarizing the legacy of language analyses in psychological science, we show how methodological advances have made these analyses more feasible and insightful than ever before. In particular, we describe how two forms o…
Reflex prediction
While analysing lexical data of Western Kho-Bwa languages of the Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan family with the help of a computer-assisted approach for historical language comparison, we observed gaps in the data where one or more varieties lacked forms for certain concepts. We employed a new workflow, combining manual and automated steps, to predict the most likely phonetic realisations of the missing forms in our data, by making systematic us…
Patrones léxicos compartidos en el dominio etnobiológico de las lenguas del Chaco
Con más de veinte lenguas pertenecientes a seis familias lingüísticas, el Gran Chaco despierta el interés de los lingüistas dedicados a la tipología y comparación de lenguas. No obstante, mientras que las similitudes fonológicas y gramaticales han estado en el foco de la mayoría de esos estudios, la investigación de los patrones semánticos ha tenido hasta ahora un papel menor. Este trabajo retoma el problema de la semejanza y posible difusión de …
Traces of Embodiment in Chinese Character Formation A Frame Approach to the Interaction of Writing, Speaking, and Meaning
Traces of Embodiment in Chinese Character Formation A Frame Approach to the Interaction of Writing, Speaking, and Meaning was published in Proceedings of the International Conference "Sensory Motor Concepts in Language & Cognition" on page 45
Improving data handling and analysis in the study of rhyme patterns
By reviewing a recent quantitative study of rhyme patterns in Mandarin Chinese, this study shows how data handling and data analysis in the study of rhyme patterns can be improved. Suggestions for improvement include (a) a consistent annotation of rhyme data, which is exhaustive and facilitates data reuse, and (b) emphasizes the importance of automated approaches for exploratory data analysis, which can help to analyze rhyme data in an improved w…
Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan
Significance Given its size and geographical extension, Sino-Tibetan is of the highest importance for understanding the prehistory of East Asia, and of neighboring language families. Based on a dataset of 50 Sino-Tibetan languages, we infer phylogenies that date the origin of the language family to around 7200 B.P., linking the origin of the language family with the late Cishan and the early Yangshao cultures.
Beyond edit distances
This article provides a response to a target article by Jäger (2019), in which an alternative method for the comparison of linguistic reconstruction systems is proposed that is not based on the edit distance
Save the trees
Skepticism regarding the tree model has a long tradition in historical linguistics. Although scholars have emphasized that the tree model and its long-standing counterpart, the wave theory, are not necessarily incompatible, the opinion that family trees are unrealistic and should be completely abandoned in the field of historical linguistics has always enjoyed a certain popularity. This skepticism has further increased with the advent of recently…
Automated methods for the investigation of language contact, with a focus on lexical borrowing
While language contact has so far been predominantly studied on the basis of detailed case studies, the emergence of methods for phylogenetic reconstruction and automated word comparison-as a result of the recent quantitative turn in historical linguistics-has also resulted in new proposals to study language contact situations by means of automated approaches. This study provides a concise introduction to the most important approaches, which have…
Using ancestral state reconstruction methods for onomasiological reconstruction in multilingual word lists
Current efforts in computational historical linguistics are predominantly concerned with phylogenetic inference. Methods for ancestral state reconstruction have only been applied sporadically. In contrast to phylogenetic algorithms, automatic reconstruction methods presuppose phylogenetic information in order to explain what has evolved when and where. Here we report a pilot study exploring how well automatic methods for ancestral state reconstru…
Automatic Inference of Sound Correspondence Patterns across Multiple Languages
Sound correspondence patterns play a crucial role for linguistic reconstruction. Linguists use them to prove language relationship, to reconstruct proto-forms, and for classical phylogenetic reconstruction based on shared innovations. Cognate words that fail to conform with expected patterns can further point to various kinds of exceptions in sound change, such as analogy or assimilation of frequent words. Here I present an automatic method for t…
Vowel purity and rhyme evidence in Old Chinese reconstruction
Rhyme patterns in Old Chinese poems are important for the reconstruction of Old Chinese pronunciation, as they provide evidence for groups of words which formerly had similar pronunciation. Rhyme patterns can also be used to test Old Chinese reconstruction systems for consistency and plausibility, as reconstruction systems should minimize the conflict with attested rhyme patterns. Here, we build on the idea that rhyming in Old Chinese followed th…
Improved computational models of sound change shed light on the history of the Tukanoan languages
Improved computational models of sound change shed light on the history of the Tukanoan languages * There has been much debate regarding the internal history of the Tukanoan languages during the last four decades, with different classification proposals being based on lexical and phonological data. Here, we present a new classification of the Tukanoan language family based on an improved computational approach which infers phylogenetic trees from…
Using Phylogenetic Networks to Model Chinese Dialect History
The idea that language history is best visualized by a branching tree has been controversially discussed in the linguistic world and many alternative theories have been proposed. The reluctance of many scholars to accept the tree as the natural metaphor for language history was due to conflicting signals in linguistic data: many resemblances would simply not point to a unique tree. Despite these observations, the majority of automatic approaches …
Automated Dating of the World's Language Families Based on Lexical Similarity
This paper describes a computerized alternative to glottochronology for estimating elapsed time since parent languages diverged into daughter languages. The method, developed by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP) consortium, is different from glottochronology in four major respects: (1) it is automated and thus is more objective, (2) it applies a uniform analytical approach to a single database of worldwide languages, (3) it is base…
Automated Dating of the World's Language Families Based on Lexical Similarity
This paper describes a computerized alternative to glottochronology for estimating elapsed time since parent languages diverged into daughter languages. The method, developed by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP) consortium, is different from glottochronology in four major respects: (1) it is automated and thus is more objective, (2) it applies a uniform analytical approach to a single database of worldwide languages, (3) it is base…
A recent northern origin for the Uto-Aztecan family
The Uto-Aztecan language family is one of the largest language families in the Americas. However, there has been considerable debate about its origin and how it spread. Here we use Bayesian phylogenetic methods to analyze lexical data from thirty-four Uto-Aztecan varieties and two Kiowa-Tanoan languages. We infer the age of Proto-Uto-Aztecan to be around 4,100 years (3,258-5,025 years) and identify the most likely homeland to be near what is now …
Automated methods for the investigation of language contact, with a focus on lexical borrowing
While language contact has so far been predominantly studied on the basis of detailed case studies, the emergence of methods for phylogenetic reconstruction and automated word comparison-as a result of the recent quantitative turn in historical linguistics-has also resulted in new proposals to study language contact situations by means of automated approaches. This study provides a concise introduction to the most important approaches, which have…
Automated Dating of the World's Language Families Based on Lexical Similarity
This paper describes a computerized alternative to glottochronology for estimating elapsed time since parent languages diverged into daughter languages. The method, developed by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP) consortium, is different from glottochronology in four major respects: (1) it is automated and thus is more objective, (2) it applies a uniform analytical approach to a single database of worldwide languages, (3) it is base…
Using Phylogenetic Networks to Model Chinese Dialect History
The idea that language history is best visualized by a branching tree has been controversially discussed in the linguistic world and many alternative theories have been proposed. The reluctance of many scholars to accept the tree as the natural metaphor for language history was due to conflicting signals in linguistic data: many resemblances would simply not point to a unique tree. Despite these observations, the majority of automatic approaches …
Improved computational models of sound change shed light on the history of the Tukanoan languages
Improved computational models of sound change shed light on the history of the Tukanoan languages * There has been much debate regarding the internal history of the Tukanoan languages during the last four decades, with different classification proposals being based on lexical and phonological data. Here, we present a new classification of the Tukanoan language family based on an improved computational approach which infers phylogenetic trees from…
Vowel purity and rhyme evidence in Old Chinese reconstruction
Rhyme patterns in Old Chinese poems are important for the reconstruction of Old Chinese pronunciation, as they provide evidence for groups of words which formerly had similar pronunciation. Rhyme patterns can also be used to test Old Chinese reconstruction systems for consistency and plausibility, as reconstruction systems should minimize the conflict with attested rhyme patterns. Here, we build on the idea that rhyming in Old Chinese followed th…
Using ancestral state reconstruction methods for onomasiological reconstruction in multilingual word lists
Current efforts in computational historical linguistics are predominantly concerned with phylogenetic inference. Methods for ancestral state reconstruction have only been applied sporadically. In contrast to phylogenetic algorithms, automatic reconstruction methods presuppose phylogenetic information in order to explain what has evolved when and where. Here we report a pilot study exploring how well automatic methods for ancestral state reconstru…
Automatic Inference of Sound Correspondence Patterns across Multiple Languages
Sound correspondence patterns play a crucial role for linguistic reconstruction. Linguists use them to prove language relationship, to reconstruct proto-forms, and for classical phylogenetic reconstruction based on shared innovations. Cognate words that fail to conform with expected patterns can further point to various kinds of exceptions in sound change, such as analogy or assimilation of frequent words. Here I present an automatic method for t…
Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan
Significance Given its size and geographical extension, Sino-Tibetan is of the highest importance for understanding the prehistory of East Asia, and of neighboring language families. Based on a dataset of 50 Sino-Tibetan languages, we infer phylogenies that date the origin of the language family to around 7200 B.P., linking the origin of the language family with the late Cishan and the early Yangshao cultures.
Beyond edit distances
This article provides a response to a target article by Jäger (2019), in which an alternative method for the comparison of linguistic reconstruction systems is proposed that is not based on the edit distance
Save the trees
Skepticism regarding the tree model has a long tradition in historical linguistics. Although scholars have emphasized that the tree model and its long-standing counterpart, the wave theory, are not necessarily incompatible, the opinion that family trees are unrealistic and should be completely abandoned in the field of historical linguistics has always enjoyed a certain popularity. This skepticism has further increased with the advent of recently…
Automated methods for the investigation of language contact, with a focus on lexical borrowing
While language contact has so far been predominantly studied on the basis of detailed case studies, the emergence of methods for phylogenetic reconstruction and automated word comparison-as a result of the recent quantitative turn in historical linguistics-has also resulted in new proposals to study language contact situations by means of automated approaches. This study provides a concise introduction to the most important approaches, which have…
Improving data handling and analysis in the study of rhyme patterns
By reviewing a recent quantitative study of rhyme patterns in Mandarin Chinese, this study shows how data handling and data analysis in the study of rhyme patterns can be improved. Suggestions for improvement include (a) a consistent annotation of rhyme data, which is exhaustive and facilitates data reuse, and (b) emphasizes the importance of automated approaches for exploratory data analysis, which can help to analyze rhyme data in an improved w…
Traces of Embodiment in Chinese Character Formation A Frame Approach to the Interaction of Writing, Speaking, and Meaning
Traces of Embodiment in Chinese Character Formation A Frame Approach to the Interaction of Writing, Speaking, and Meaning was published in Proceedings of the International Conference "Sensory Motor Concepts in Language & Cognition" on page 45
From Text to Thought
Humans have been using language for millennia but have only just begun to scratch the surface of what natural language can reveal about the mind. Here we propose that language offers a unique window into psychology. After briefly summarizing the legacy of language analyses in psychological science, we show how methodological advances have made these analyses more feasible and insightful than ever before. In particular, we describe how two forms o…
Reflex prediction
While analysing lexical data of Western Kho-Bwa languages of the Sino-Tibetan or Trans-Himalayan family with the help of a computer-assisted approach for historical language comparison, we observed gaps in the data where one or more varieties lacked forms for certain concepts. We employed a new workflow, combining manual and automated steps, to predict the most likely phonetic realisations of the missing forms in our data, by making systematic us…
Patrones léxicos compartidos en el dominio etnobiológico de las lenguas del Chaco
Con más de veinte lenguas pertenecientes a seis familias lingüísticas, el Gran Chaco despierta el interés de los lingüistas dedicados a la tipología y comparación de lenguas. No obstante, mientras que las similitudes fonológicas y gramaticales han estado en el foco de la mayoría de esos estudios, la investigación de los patrones semánticos ha tenido hasta ahora un papel menor. Este trabajo retoma el problema de la semejanza y posible difusión de …
Annotating cognates in phylogenetic studies of Southeast Asian languages
Compounding and derivation are frequent in many language families. As a consequence, words in different languages are often only partially cognate, sharing some but not all morphemes. While partial cognates do not constitute a problem for the phonological reconstruction of individual morphemes, they are problematic for phylogenetic reconstruction based on comparative word lists. We review current practices of preparing cognate-coded word lists an…
A recent northern origin for the Uto-Aztecan family
A recent northern origin for the Uto-Aztecan family
The Uto-Aztecan language family is one of the largest language families in the Americas. However, there has been considerable debate about its origin and how it spread. Here we use Bayesian phylogenetic methods to analyze lexical data from thirty-four Uto-Aztecan varieties and two Kiowa-Tanoan languages. We infer the age of Proto-Uto-Aztecan to be around 4,100 years (3,258-5,025 years) and identify the most likely homeland to be near what is now …
From Psycholinguistics to Computer Vision. A Comprehensive Review of Object Naming Data and Studies
In recent years, much research has focused on what happens in the human brain when a perceptual stimulus, such as a picture, is converted into linguistic content, a word. This process is commonly referred to as object naming and is considered a crucial aspect of language processing, production, and cognition. It refers to the identification of an object with a word or phrase, as well as the psychometric method of investigating this human behavior…
Linguistics (16 works) · Computer Science (14 works) · Language and cultural evolution (13 works) · Artificial Intelligence (9 works) · Natural language processing (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · History (7 works) · Mathematics (7 works) · Natural Language Processing Techniques (7 works) · Cognate (5 works)