Article published in:
Historical Linguistics 2007: Selected papers from the 18th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Montreal, 6–11 August 2007
Edited by Monique Dufresne, Fernande Dupuis and Etleva Vocaj
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 308] 2009
► pp. 259–268

UNIDIA

A database for deriving diachronic universals

| Laboratoire Dynamique Du Langage, CNRS-UMR 5596, Lyon, France
| Laboratoire Dynamique Du Langage, CNRS-UMR 5596, Lyon, France
UNIDIA is a database on sound change designed to compile the sound change hypotheses formulated to account for the phonological evolution of the languages of the world. It aims at deriving a data-based typology of sound change, universals, tendencies and sound change distributions. It now contains about 3750 sound changes for some 190 languages, essentially sampled from the Bantu, Sinitic and Daic language groups. This data can be explored based on various phonetic criteria, and sound change distributions can be represented on a geographical map or on a language family tree. At completion, UNIDIA should be representative of how phonological evolution is construed by the community of historical linguists and could become a useful tool for testing competing models of language evolution.
Published online: 30 November 2009
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.308.21ham