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 a smaller number of speakers had higher rates of loss of lexemes from basic vocabulary than did their larger sister languages (2100).

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
UNKNOWNSome SupportUNKNOWNUNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Population SizeIndependentPopulation
Lexeme LossDependentVocabulary