Comments on: Have you heard of World Atlas of Language Structures online? http://anthropology.net/2008/04/29/have-you-heard-of-world-atlas-of-language-structures-online/ Beyond bones & stones Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:33:20 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Amys Welt » Blog Archive » Notizen und Links http://anthropology.net/2008/04/29/have-you-heard-of-world-atlas-of-language-structures-online/#comment-10889 Amys Welt » Blog Archive » Notizen und Links Fri, 16 May 2008 23:57:32 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=821#comment-10889 [...] World Atlas of Language Structures Online (WALS) [via Anthropology.net] [...]

]]> By: mark (the ideophone) http://anthropology.net/2008/04/29/have-you-heard-of-world-atlas-of-language-structures-online/#comment-10652 mark (the ideophone) Thu, 01 May 2008 09:56:00 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=821#comment-10652 Kambiz, sure, it remains a very helpful resource even for those purposes. I was just adding the note for your readers because elsewhere I've seen people complaining about the fact that it doesn't give a good impression of the distribution of, say, English. Kambiz, sure, it remains a very helpful resource even for those purposes. I was just adding the note for your readers because elsewhere I’ve seen people complaining about the fact that it doesn’t give a good impression of the distribution of, say, English.

]]> By: Kambiz Kamrani http://anthropology.net/2008/04/29/have-you-heard-of-world-atlas-of-language-structures-online/#comment-10637 Kambiz Kamrani Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:01:46 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=821#comment-10637 Hi Mark, Thanks for the clarification. I'm sure the readers will appreciate the input. I knew the distinction, but for the layman WALS' ability to display languages and their affiliations on a map is very attractive. See the comment below yours and above mine, scienceguy288 has already used it to learn something he didn't know before. Kambiz Hi Mark,

Thanks for the clarification. I’m sure the readers will appreciate the input. I knew the distinction, but for the layman WALS’ ability to display languages and their affiliations on a map is very attractive. See the comment below yours and above mine, scienceguy288 has already used it to learn something he didn’t know before.

Kambiz

]]> By: scienceguy288 http://anthropology.net/2008/04/29/have-you-heard-of-world-atlas-of-language-structures-online/#comment-10636 scienceguy288 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:13:27 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=821#comment-10636 That is very interesting. I speak Polish, a Slavic language, and I find that I can recognize phrases in other languages like Slav, Russian, and Ukranian. Now I can see how that developed. That is very interesting. I speak Polish, a Slavic language, and I find that I can recognize phrases in other languages like Slav, Russian, and Ukranian. Now I can see how that developed.

]]> By: mark (the ideophone) http://anthropology.net/2008/04/29/have-you-heard-of-world-atlas-of-language-structures-online/#comment-10634 mark (the ideophone) Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:27:19 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=821#comment-10634 Note that WALS is not an atlas of languages, but of language structures. Thus, the Indo European map you link to, for example, is actually quite unhelpful if you'd want to get an idea of the distribution of the languages because they are represented only as dots, not as polygons. <a href="http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_eng" rel="nofollow">English</a> is represented by a dot somewhere north of London. Besides, only a subset of the world's languages (2500 out of an estimated 6000) is included in the dataset from which the structures are sampled. This is not to diminish the greatness of the resource, just to make clear that one does not go to this atlas to get language maps. Note that WALS is not an atlas of languages, but of language structures. Thus, the Indo European map you link to, for example, is actually quite unhelpful if you’d want to get an idea of the distribution of the languages because they are represented only as dots, not as polygons. English is represented by a dot somewhere north of London. Besides, only a subset of the world’s languages (2500 out of an estimated 6000) is included in the dataset from which the structures are sampled. This is not to diminish the greatness of the resource, just to make clear that one does not go to this atlas to get language maps.

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