The aim of historical glottometry (HG) is to address the limitations of the tree model when applied to dialect continua and linkages.
[1] Inspired by dialectometry,[1]: 173 the aim of Historical Glottometry is to provide an alternative, non-cladistic approach to language genealogy, while remaining true to the principles of the Comparative method developed by Neogrammarians in the 19th century.
The homepage of Historical Glottometry includes an example of a glottometric diagram, based on a study of the Torres–Banks linkage in Vanuatu.
[2]: 72 Several studies have been conducted, partly or entirely within the framework of Historical glottometry – including the following: Jacques & List (2019)[5] show that the concept of incomplete lineage sorting can be applied to account for non-treelike phenomena in language evolution.
Kalyan and François (2019) concur that "Historical Glottometry does not challenge the family tree model once incomplete lineage sorting has been taken into account"[6]: 174 – provided the internal variation discussed in the analysis includes the geographical (dialectal) dimension.