Rate of language evolution is affected by population size

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences • Vol/Iss. 112(7) • National Academy of Sciences • Washington, D.C • Published In • Pages: 2097-2102 •
By Bromham, Lindell, Hua, Xia, Fitzpatrick, Thomas G., Greenhill, Simon J.

Hypothesis

Languages with larger speaker populations had higher rates of gain of new words than did their smaller sister languages (2100).

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
UNKNOWNSupportedUNKNOWNUNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Population SizeIndependentPopulation
Rate of Vocabulary GrowthDependentVocabulary