Editing Mass comparison (section)

{{Short description|Controversial method in historical linguistics}}
{{Fringe theories|date=September 2023}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|article|date=September 2023}}

'''Mass comparison''' is a method developed by [[Joseph Greenberg]] to determine the level of [[genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relatedness]] between languages. It is now usually called '''multilateral comparison'''. Mass comparison has been referred to as a "methodological deception" and is rejected by most linguists, and its continued use is primarily restricted to [[Fringe theory|fringe]] linguistics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adrian |first1=Pearce |last2=Beresford-Jones |first2=David |last3=Heggarty |first3=Paul |title=Rethinking the Andes-Amazonia divide: a cross disciplinary exploration |date=2020 |publisher=UCL Press |location=London |isbn=9781787357471 |pages=94–102}}</ref><ref>{{Harv|Campbell|2001|p=45}}</ref>

Some of the top-level relationships Greenberg named are now generally accepted thanks to analysis with other, more widely accepted linguistic techniques, though they had already been posited by others (e.g. [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] and [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]]). Others are accepted by many though disputed by some prominent specialists (e.g. [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]]), while others are almost universally rejected (e.g. [[Eurasiatic languages|Eurasiatic]], [[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]] and [[Amerind languages|Amerind]]).