Paper by Kim Gfeller, Sabine Stoll, Chundra Cathcart, and Paul Widmer on the evolutionary dynamics of colexification

We use a phylogenetic model to study change in colexifications. We confirm previous findings that pairs of more similar concepts are more likely to be expressed by the same word. These pairs also change more slowly. Additionally, we find a tendency of more frequent concept pairs to be colexified less often, and to change more rapidly.

Gfeller, K., Stoll, S., Cathcart, C., & Widmer, P. (2026). Investigating lexical change through crosslinguistic colexification patterns. Language Dynamics and Change, 16(1), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-bja10041