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Wave model

Wave model is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wave model rather than just read about it. In short: In historical linguistics, the wave model, or wave theory (German: Wellentheorie), is a model of language change in which a new language feature (innovation) or a new combination of language features spreads from its region of origin, being adopted by a gradually expanding cluster of dialects. Each innovation starts at a certain place, and spreads from speaker to speaker, from dialect to dialect, in the same fashion…

Wave model — main illustration
Wave model — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Wave model belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Wave model to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Wave model from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In historical linguistics, the wave model, or wave theory (German: Wellentheorie), is a model of language change in which a new language feature (innovation) or a new combination of language features spreads from its region of origin, being adopted by a gradually expanding cluster of dialects. Each innovation starts at a certain place, and spreads from speaker to speaker, from dialect to dialect, in the same fashion as waves on the water. The theory was intended as a substitute for the tree model, which did not seem to be able to explain the existence of some features, especially in the Germanic languages, by descent from a proto-language. At its most ambitious, it is a wholesale replacement for the tree model of languages. During the 20th century, the wave model had little acceptance as a model for language change overall, except for certain cases, such as the study of dialect continua and areal phenomena; it has recently gained more popularity among historical linguists, due to the shortcomings of the tree model.

Principles The tree model requires languages to evolve exclusively through social splitting and linguistic divergence. In the “tree” scenario, the adoption of certain innovations by a group of dialects should result immediately in their loss of contact with other related dialects: this is the only way to explain the nested organisation of subgroups imposed by the tree structure. Such a requirement is absent from the wave model, which can easily accommodate a distribution of innovations in intersected patterns. Such a configuration is typical of dialect continua (and of linkages, see below), that is, historical situations in which dialects share innovations with different neighbours simultaneously, in such a way that the genealogical subgroups they define form an intersected pattern. This explains the popularity of the wave model in studies of dialectology. Johannes Schmidt used a second metaphor to explain the formation of a language from a continuum. The continuum is at first like a smooth, sloping line. Speakers in close proximity tend to unify their speech, creating a stepped line out of the sloped line. These steps are the dialects. Over the course of time, some steps become weak and fall into disuse, while others preempt the entire continuum. As an example, Schmidt used Standard German, which was defined to conform to some dialects and then spread throughout Germany, replacing the local dialects in many cases.

Legacy In modern linguistics, the wave model has contributed greatly to improve, but not supersede, the tree model approach of the comparative method. Some scholars have even proposed that the wave model does not complement the tree model but should replace it for the representation of language genealogy. The recent works have also focused on the notion of a linkage, a family of languages descended from a former dialect continuum; linkages cannot be represented by trees and must be analysed by the wave model. In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari explicitly oppose arborescent models of language, instead opting for rhizomatic models that function like waves. They write: "Language stabilizes around a parish, a bishopric, a capital. It forms a bulb. It evolves by subterranean stems and flows, along river valleys or train tracks; it spreads like a patch of oil." Despite these similarities, it is unclear whether Deleuze and Guattari were explicitly aware of the wave model during the production of A Thousand Plateaus.

History Advocacy of the wave theory is attributed to Johannes Schmidt and Hugo Schuchardt. In 2002 to 2007, Malcolm Ross and his colleagues theorized that Oceanic languages can be best understood as developing through the wave model.

Applications The wave model provided the key inspiration to several approaches in linguistics, notably:

Dialectology, the study of dialectal variation, which often takes the form of linguistic atlases and maps, displaying isoglosses and dialect boundaries (including fuzzy boundaries, cf. Croissant, Rhenish fan); Dialectometry, the quantitative and computational branch of dialectology; Historical glottometry, a quantitative and diffusionist approach to language subgrouping and genealogy: its main unit of observation are the individual innovations as they diffused across dialect networks and linkages (internal to a given family), resulting in genetic subgroups that form intersecting patterns; Areal linguistics, the study of language contact (including across different families), and of the sprachbunds that result from long periods of language convergence; Creole linguistics, the study of linguistic creoles and mixed languages, and of their genesis.

See also Memetics Horizontal gene transfer

References

Illustrations

Wave model: Diagram based on the wave model originally presented by Johannes Schmidt. The background represents a dialect continuum in its geographical extension. In this Euler diagram, the circles are to be regarded as diachronic: they start from a center and increase in diameter over time, like the concentric waves on a water surface struck by a stone. These circles are (bundles of) characters that were innovated originally across a small portion of the continuum, and later spread out along the social network, moving away from the center. Languages are impermanent sets of speech habits that result from the intersections of the circles. The most conservative language is represented by the area not covered by the circles.
Diagram based on the wave model originally presented by Johannes Schmidt. The background represents a dialect continuum in its geographical extension. In this Euler diagram, the circles are to be regarded as diachronic: they start from a center and increase in diameter over time, like the concentric waves on a water surface struck by a stone. These circles are (bundles of) characters that were innovated originally across a small portion of the continuum, and later spread out along the social network, moving away from the center. Languages are impermanent sets of speech habits that result from the intersections of the circles. The most conservative language is represented by the area not covered by the circles.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wave model

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wave model claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wave model before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wave model ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wave model

In research
Wave model appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Wave model in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Wave model is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Comparative linguistics, Historical linguistics, Linguistic theories and hypotheses, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Wave model outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wave model in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Wave model means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Wave model out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wave model in simple terms?

In historical linguistics, the wave model, or wave theory (German: Wellentheorie), is a model of language change in which a new language feature (innovation) or a new combination of language features spreads from its region of origin, being adopted by a gradually expanding cluster of dialects. Each…

Why does Wave model matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wave model?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wave model.

Tags

  • Comparative linguistics
  • Historical linguistics
  • Linguistic theories and hypotheses
  • Sociolinguistics

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