Dictionary

megalocomparative en · NOUN

Etymology

From megalocomparison, equivalent to megalo- + comparative. Coined by Matisoff (1990) in a critique of Joseph Greenberg's "mass comparison" (see quotation at megalocomparison).

Meanings

1. (derogatory, historical, often, rare) Of or pertaining to megalocomparison.
   • Ironically, this interpretation also found its way into the science fiction literature of modern megalocomparative linguistics[…] 2016, Alexander Vovin, transl., edited by Alexander Vovin, Man’yōshū: A New English Translation Containing the Original Text, Kana Transliteration, Romanization, Glossing and Commentary, Leiden: Brill, →DOI, book 17, page 74:
   • The height of Benedictine megalocomparative ingenuity is reached in the concept of split cognates, i.e. cognates that have reflexes of at most one given proto-phoneme in common, since they descend from different syllables of a polysyllabic etymon. 1990, J. A. Matisoff, “On Megalocomparison”, in Language, volume 66, number 1, →DOI, pages 106–120:
   • In a recent disquisition on very large-scale linguistic comparisons, James A. Matisoff discusses the megalocomparisons performed by Joseph H. Greenberg on Amerindian and Benedict on AT, critically appraises their megalo comparative ^([sic]) methodology […] 1992, La Vaughn H. Hayes, Mon-Khmer Studies, volume 21, pages 143–177:

Forms

wikipedia: Joseph Greenberg · wikipedia: mass comparison · wikipedia: James Matisoff