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Kinship, optimality, and typology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2010

Simon Musgrave  and
David L. Dowe
Simon Musgrave
Affiliation:
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Clayton School of Information Technology, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia. Simon.Musgrave@monash.edu http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/linguistics/staff/smusgrave.php
David L. Dowe
Affiliation:
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Clayton School of Information Technology, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia. David.Dowe@monash.edu http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~dld/
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Abstract

Jones uses a mechanism from the linguistic theory, Optimality Theory, to generate the range of kin systems observed in human cultures and human languages. The observed distribution of kinship systems across human societies suggests that some possibilities are preferred over others, a result that would indicate Jones' model needs to be refined, especially in its treatment of markedness.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 5 , October 2010 , pp. 397 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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