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Related Experiment Videos

Languages evolve in punctuational bursts.

Quentin D Atkinson1, Andrew Meade, Chris Venditti

  • 1School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, UK.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|February 2, 2008
PubMed
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Human languages evolve rapidly during language splitting events, with 10-33% of vocabulary differences arising from these bursts. This suggests fledgling languages experience accelerated linguistic evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Computational Linguistics

Background:

  • Human languages are theorized to evolve in rapid bursts, particularly during periods of divergence.
  • This phenomenon of punctuational linguistic evolution has lacked empirical demonstration.
  • Understanding language evolution is key to historical linguistics and cognitive science.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically demonstrate rapid bursts of linguistic evolution.
  • To quantify the contribution of these bursts to vocabulary differences.
  • To investigate the drivers of accelerated evolution in new languages.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of vocabulary data from three major language families: Bantu, Indo-European, and Austronesian.
  • Comparative linguistic analysis to identify and quantify vocabulary divergence.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Statistical modeling to assess rates of change during language splitting events.

    • Main Results:

    • 10% to 33% of observed vocabulary differences resulted from rapid evolutionary bursts.
    • These bursts were significantly associated with language-splitting events.
    • Evidence supports the hypothesis of accelerated linguistic change in nascent languages.

    Conclusions:

    • Rapid bursts of linguistic evolution are a demonstrable phenomenon.
    • Fledgling languages exhibit increased rates of change, potentially due to founder effects or social identity.
    • This finding provides a new perspective on language diversification and historical linguistics.