Monogenetic change

Translations

mutamento monogenetic | - | -

Article

A monogenetic change, as opposed to a polygenetic one is a change or event that happens only once in the diachrony of a system. When a monogenetic change is present in more than one branch of a phylogenetic tree, it can have spread either by common inheritance or contact. When the change occurs in unconnected branches different trees or in branches that do not share an affected ancestor node, it must have spread by contact. Identifying monogenetic changes in ancient corpus-languages within an area is the only way to demonstrate contact in a conclusive fashion, although, of course, the judgment about a change being monogenetic is mostly based on probablity and typological prevalence.

Example

An example from the Anatolian and peri-Anatolian area is offered by the history and evolution of cuneiform writing. The use of the sign PI (𒉿) to write the values /wa/, /we/, /wi/, /wu/ in some peripheral cuneiform syllabaries is a monogenetic trait, as it has a very low chance to have occurred independently (cf. Gamkrelidze 1961).

References

Gamkrelidze, Th. V. 1961. The Akkado-Hittite Syllabary and the Problem of the Origin of the Hittite Script. In: Archiv Orientální 29, 406-418.