A Central Asian language survey: Collecting data, measuring relatedness and detecting loans

摘要: We have documented language varieties (either Turkic or Indo-European) spoken in 23 test sites by 88 informants belonging to the major ethnic groups of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Karakalpaks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Yaghnobis). The recorded linguistic material concerns 176 words extended Swadesh list will be made publically available with publication this paper. Phonological diversity is measured Levenshtein distance displayed as a consensus bootstrap tree multidimensional scaling plots. Linguistic contact number borrowings, from one family into other, according precision/recall analysis further validated expert judgment. Concerning languages, results our sample do not support Kazakh Karakalpak distinct languages indicate existence several separate varieties. Kyrgyz Uzbek, on other hand, appear quite homogeneous. Among Indo-Iranian distinction between Tajik Yaghnobi very clear-cut. More generally, degree borrowing higher than average where families are many sorts situations characterizing Central Asia: frequent bilingualism, shifting political boundaries, living outside “mother” country.