Adapting the AIS for geographic and phylogenetic research on language change dynamics
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 2, 2026

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
Published on: September 27, 2024
Borja Herce1, Michele Loporcaro1
1University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Traditional linguistic atlases can be leveraged to investigate the dynamics of language diversification and change but are severely underexploited for this purpose. Here we present a cleaned up and augmented dataset derived from the AIS (Swiss-Italian Atlas) which allows us to explore the amount of innovation at different linguistic levels (lexicon vs. phonology), and the geographic, societal, and evolutionary factors predicting the amount of change in different varieties. Results point towards a significant correlation in the speed of lexical and phonological change, as well as the greater relevance of extralinguistic variables (most importantly population size) to predict lexical innovation.
Related Concept Videos
Language Development II: Nativist Perspective
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Longitudinal Research
Language and Cognition
Genetic Drift
Language Development I: Behaviorist Perspective
