A Bayesian approach to the classification of Tungusic languages

Diachronica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Oskolskaya ◽  
Ezequiel Koile ◽  
Martine Robbeets
Keyword(s):  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
Posterior Density ◽  
Phylogenetic Methods ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Quantitative Basis ◽  
Divergence Dates ◽  
Basic Vocabulary ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
Highest Posterior Density

AbstractThe Tungusic language family is comprised of languages spoken in Siberia, the Russian Far East, Northeast China and Xinjiang. There is a general consensus that these languages are genealogically related and descend from a common ancestral language. Nevertheless, there is considerable disagreement with regard to the internal structure of the Tungusic family and the time depth of its separation into daughter languages. Here we use computational Bayesian phylogenetic methods to generate a phylogeny of Tungusic languages and estimate the time-depth of the family. Our analysis is based on the recently introduced Leipzig-Jakarta-Jena list, a dataset of 254 basic vocabulary items collected for 21 Tungusic doculects. Our results are consistent with two basic classifications previously proposed in the literature, notably a Manchu-Tungusic classification, in which the break-up of Jurchenic constitutes the first split in the tree, as well as a North-South classification, which includes a Jurchenic-Nanaic and an Orochic-Ewenic branch. In addition, we obtain a time-depth for the age of Proto-Tungusic between the 8th century BC and the 12th century AD (95% highest posterior density interval). Previous classifications of Tungusic were based on both classical historical comparative linguistic and lexicostatistic approaches, but the application of Bayesian phylogenetic methods to the Tungusic languages has not so far been attempted. In contrast to previous approaches, our Bayesian analysis adds an understanding of the statistical robustness of the proposed branches and infers absolute divergence dates, allowing variation of rates of change across branches and cognate sets. In this way, our research provides a reliable quantitative basis for previous estimates based on classical historical linguistic and lexicostatistic approaches.

scholarly journals Bayesian phylolinguistics infers the internal structure and the time-depth of the Turkic language family

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Savelyev ◽  
Martine Robbeets
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Quantitative Basis ◽  
Turkic Languages ◽  
Divergence Dates ◽  
Basic Vocabulary ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
Lexical Data ◽  
Bayesian Phylogenetic Inference

Abstract Despite more than 200 years of research, the internal structure of the Turkic language family remains subject to debate. Classifications of Turkic so far are based on both classical historical–comparative linguistic and distance-based quantitative approaches. Although these studies yield an internal structure of the Turkic family, they cannot give us an understanding of the statistical robustness of the proposed branches, nor are they capable of reliably inferring absolute divergence dates, without assuming constant rates of change. Here we use computational Bayesian phylogenetic methods to build a phylogeny of the Turkic languages, express the reliability of the proposed branches in terms of probability, and estimate the time-depth of the family within credibility intervals. To this end, we collect a new dataset of 254 basic vocabulary items for thirty-two Turkic language varieties based on the recently introduced Leipzig–Jakarta list. Our application of Bayesian phylogenetic inference on lexical data of the Turkic languages is unprecedented. The resulting phylogenetic tree supports a binary structure for Turkic and replicates most of the conventional sub-branches in the Common Turkic branch. We calculate the robustness of the inferences for subgroups and individual languages whose position in the tree seems to be debatable. We infer the time-depth of the Turkic family at around 2100 years before present, thus providing a reliable quantitative basis for previous estimates based on classical historical linguistics and lexicostatistics.

scholarly journals The classification of the Transeurasian languages

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-39
Author(s):  
Martine Robbeets
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Family Tree ◽  
Comparative Linguistics ◽  
Phylogenetic Methods ◽  
The Family ◽  
Quantitative Basis ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
Historical Comparative

Even if the hypothesis of Transeurasian affiliation is gradually gaining acceptance, supporters do not coincide on the internal structure of the family. Over the last century, a range of different classifications has been proposed. While these proposals show some remarkable overlap, the position of the Tungusic branch in the family tree remains a recurrent issue. Here the best supportable tree for the Transeurasian family is inferred, notably a binary topology with a Japano-Koreanic and an Altaic branch, in which Tungusic is the first to split off from the Altaic branch. To this end, the power of classical historical-comparative linguistics is combined with computational Bayesian phylogenetic methods. In this way, a quantitative basis is introduced to test various competing hypotheses with regard to the internal structure of the Transeurasian family and to solve uncertainties associated with the application of the classical historical-comparative method.

scholarly journals Three tree priors and five datasets

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taraka Rama
Keyword(s):  
Model Comparison ◽  
Bayes Factor ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Language Family ◽  
European Language ◽  
Posterior Density ◽  
Phylogenetic Methods ◽  
Highest Posterior Density ◽  
Origin Hypothesis ◽  
European Family

Abstract The age of the root of the Indo-European language family has received much attention since the application of Bayesian phylogenetic methods by Gray and Atkinson (2003). With the application of new models, the root age of the Indo-European family has tended to decrease from an age that supported the Anatolian origin hypothesis to an age that supports the Steppe origin hypothesis (Chang et al., 2015). However, none of the published work in Indo-European phylogenetics has studied the effect of tree priors on phylogenetic analyses of the Indo-European family. In this paper, I intend to fill this gap by exploring the effect of tree priors on different aspects of the Indo-European family’s phylogenetic inference. I apply three tree priors—Uniform, Fossilized Birth-Death (FBD), and Coalescent—to five publicly available datasets of the Indo-European language family. I evaluate the posterior distribution of the trees from the Bayesian analysis using Bayes Factor, and find that there is support for the Steppe origin hypothesis in the case of two tree priors. I report the median and 95 % highest posterior density (HPD) interval of the root ages for all three tree priors. A model comparison suggests that either the Uniform prior or the FBD prior is more suitable than the Coalescent prior to the datasets belonging to the Indo-European language family.

Selection of the Area of Window Openings of Residential Buildings in Conditions of Monsoon Climate of the Far East of the Russian Federation and Northern Areas of China

2019 ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Aleksei K. Solovyov ◽  
Bi Guofu
Keyword(s):  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
Heat Losses ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Monsoon Climate ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
Artificial Illumination ◽  
Heat Penetration ◽  
Large Heat

The term “window” in architecture usually stands for an opening in a wall or roof for penetration of natural light, sunrays and fresh air in premises. Recently, the requirement of contact with environment is added to this condition. It is especially relevant for residential buildings where rooms are considered residential if they have windows. The energy consumption of a building depends on sizes, form and location of windows. In winter, windows cause huge heat losses, in summer, on the other hand, large heat enters a building via the windows and is required to be removed by means of air conditioning. Moreover, windows are used for penetration of natural light in premises, which assists in saving of large amounts of power for artificial illumination. This article discusses partial solving the problem of the energy efficiency of residential buildings by determining the most efficient area of windows in terms of energy spending for compensation of heat losses via windows in winter, elimination of heat penetration through them in summer and energy losses for artificial lighting throughout the year. The analysis of the results of calculation of power consumption for residential premises in conditions of monsoon climate of the Russian Far East and Northern areas of China (PRC) is provided.

Tax debt as a threat to the economic security of the Russian Far East

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-242
Author(s):  
V.A. Yakimova ◽  
A.A. Orekhova
Keyword(s):  
Russian Far East ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
Far East ◽  
Federal District ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Correlation And Regression Analysis ◽  
Debt Collection ◽  
Far Eastern ◽  
The Russian Far East

Subject. The article addresses the tax liabilities of taxpayers registered in the subjects of the Far Eastern Federal District, which should be paid to the consolidated budget of the Russian Federation, as well as the factors of the said debt growth. Objectives. Our aim is to assess the level of tax debt of regions of the Russian Far East and identify the correlation between the factors and the amount of tax debt. Methods. The study rests on methods of analysis, generalization, grouping, systematization, and the correlation and regression analysis. Results. We analyzed the level of tax debt for the entire Far Eastern Federal District and by region, identified factors affecting the growth of tax debt therein. The paper assesses the structure of tax debt by type of taxes and activity of debtors. The unveiled factors may help control changes in the size of tax debt in the Russian Far East and develop effective measures to improve the debt collection. Conclusions. The study shows that there is an increase in the tax debt in the regions of the Russian Far East, in the VAT in particular. The factor analysis revealed that the volume of sales of wholesale enterprises, investment in fixed capital, the consumer price index have the largest impact on the amount of tax debt.

New records and rare alien species in the flora of the Russian Far East

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 89-102
Author(s):  
Z.V. Kozhevnikova ◽  
◽  
A.E. Kozhevnikov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
New Records ◽  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
The Russian Far East

New invasive species Acanthoscelides pallidipennis (Motschulsky, 1874) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) in the fauna of the Russian Far East

2018 ◽  
Vol 360 ◽  
pp. 25-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Kuprin ◽  
◽  
N.A. Kolyada ◽  
D.G. Kasatkin ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
The Russian Far East
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