comparative method
Noun
Meaning
comparative method (plural not attested)
(linguistics) A technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with a common ancestor.
Examples
Consequently, its prehistory may not be reconstructible by means of the traditional comparative method except by applying it to differences between dialects within the language.
He believed that multilateral comparison was not in any way opposed to the comparative method, but is, on the contrary, its necessary first step (Greenberg, 1957:44).
Application of the comparative method will show partly different genetic relationships.
It is not phonetic similarity which matters when utilizing the comparative method, but regular sound correspondences.
Linguists working with other families soon followed suit, and the comparative method quickly became the established method for uncovering linguistic relationships.
Most attempted classifications are problematic in that they consider only languages that happen to fall within traditional Narrow Bantu, rather than South Bantoid, which has been established as a unit by the comparative method.