Editing Language family (section)

==Visual representation==
[[File:20150714040758!Mayan languages tree gl.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|An example of a language tree, containing the Mayan languages]]
A common visual representation of a language family is given by a genetic language tree. The [[tree model]] is sometimes termed a [[dendrogram]] or [[phylogeny]]. The family tree shows the relationship of the languages within a family, much as a family tree of an individual shows their relationship with their relatives. There are criticisms to the family tree model. Critics focus mainly on the claim that the internal structure of the trees is subject to variation based on the criteria of classification.<ref>Edzard, Lutz. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UAFVgdGljl4C Polygenesis, Convergence, and Entropy: An Alternative Model of Linguistic Evolution Applied to Semitic Linguistics]''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1998. Print.</ref> Even among those who support the family tree model, there are debates over which languages should be included in a language family. For example, within the dubious [[Altaic language family]], there are debates over whether the [[Japonic]] and [[Koreanic]] languages should be included or not.<ref>Georg, Stefan, Peter A. Michalove, Alexis Manaster Ramer, and Paul J. Sidwell. Telling General Linguists about Altaic. ''Journal of Linguistics'' 35.1 (1999): 65–98. Print.</ref>

The [[wave model]] has been proposed as an alternative to the tree model.<ref name="francois">{{cite book |last=François |first=Alexandre |author-link=Alexandre François |contribution= Trees, Waves and Linkages: Models of Language Diversification |editor1-last=Bowern |editor1-first=Claire |editor2-last=Evans |editor2-first=Bethwyn |title=The Routledge Handbook of Historical Linguistics |pages=161–189 |publisher=Routledge |place=London |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-41552-789-7 |contribution-url=http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2014_HHL_Trees-waves-linkages_Diversification.pdf}}</ref> The wave model uses [[isogloss]]es to group language varieties; unlike in the tree model, these groups can overlap. While the tree model implies a lack of contact between languages after derivation from an ancestral form, the wave model emphasizes the relationship between languages that remain in contact, which is more realistic.<ref name="francois"/> [[Historical glottometry]] is an application of the wave model, meant to identify and evaluate genetic relations in [[Linkage (linguistics)|linguistic linkages]].<ref name="francois"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kalyan |first1=Siva |author1-link= |last2=François  |first2=Alexandre |author2-link= |contribution=Freeing the Comparative Method from the tree model: A framework for Historical Glottometry |editor1-last=Kikusawa |editor1-first=Ritsuko |editor2-last=Reid |editor2-first=Laurie |title=Let's Talk about Trees: Genetic Relationships of Languages and Their Phylogenic Representation |series=Senri Ethnological Studies |volume=98 |pages=59–89 |publisher=National Museum of Ethnology |place=Ōsaka |year=2018 |isbn= |contribution-url=http://alex.francois.online.fr/data/Kalyan-Francois_2018_Freeing-Comparative-Method-from-Tree-model.pdf}}</ref>