[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# The language vs. dialect distinction again

## Details

**Authors** Herce

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Language Dynamics and Change

**Discipline** Linguistics

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-bja10042) 
10.1163/22105832-bja10042

## In authors' words

### What they found (results)

Using an expanded Romance-language dataset and cross-family simulations, the study found no empirically salient bimodal boundary separating 'languages' from 'dialects'; distances were instead fully explained by phylogenetic diversification structure.

## Commentary

### In short

Tests whether a presumed categorical boundary (language vs. dialect) is real or is instead fully absorbed by the underlying nested, branching (part/whole) phylogenetic structure of a language family.

**Patterns it shows** D, S

**Added** 2026-09-08

**How to cite this** Herce (2026). The language vs. dialect distinction again. Language Dynamics and Change.