Page "Joseph Greenberg" Paragraph 14

Greenberg argued for the virtues of breadth over depth.

He advocated restricting the amount of material to be compared ( to basic vocabulary, morphology, and known paths of sound change ) and increasing the number of languages to be compared to all the languages in a given area.

This would make it possible to compare numerous languages reliably.

At the same time, the process would provide a check on accidental resemblances through the sheer number of languages under review.

The mathematical probability that resemblances are accidental decreases sharply with the number of languages concerned ( 1957: 39 ).