The article discusses the lack of representation of uncertainty in phonological reconstruction in historical linguistics. The authors propose a new framework that allows for the representation of uncertainty in these reconstructions and includes a workflow for computing fuzzy reconstructions from linguistic data. The framework aims to improve traditional methods by providing a more refined reconstruction practice that more directly and consistently indicates the weak points in a reconstruction. The computation of the uncertainty of a given reconstruction system allows scholars to refine their reconstructions by helping them to identify weak points and potential errors.

 

Publication date: 20 Oct 2023
Project Page: Not provided
Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.12727