Comparative method: Difference between revisions

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Relation is considered to be "established beyond a reasonable doubt" if a reconstruction of the common ancestor is feasible.{{Sfn|Hock|1991|p=567}}

{{Quote|text=The ultimate proof of genetic relationship, and to many linguists' minds the only real proof, lies in a successful reconstruction of the ancestral forms from which the semantically corresponding cognates can be derived.|author=[[Hans Henrich Hock]]|title=''Principles of Historical Linguistics''|source=1991, p. 567.}}In some cases, this reconstruction can only be partial, generally because the compared languages are too scarcely attested, the temporal distance between them and their proto-language is too deep, or their internal evolution render many of the sound laws obscure to researchers. In such case, a relation is considered plausible, but uncertain.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Igartua |first=Iván |date=2015 |title=From Cumulativecumulative Toto Seperativeseparative Exponenceexponence Inin Inflectioninflection: Reversing Thethe Morphologicalmorphological Cyclecycle |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24672169 |journal=Language |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=676–722 |issn=0097-8507}}</ref>

===Terminology===