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

# The language vs. dialect distinction again

Herce, 2026, Language Dynamics and Change — Linguistics

Patterns: [Distinctions](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/distinctions), [Systems](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/systems)

## 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.

## 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.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-bja10042)