Abstract
While not mechanically related, the transmission of genes and the transmission of languages are both mediated by culture. For example, in societies where marriage outside the language group is common, matrilocal residence practices may result in the preferential conservation of the mother’s language(s), as well as the development of distinct mtDNA haplogroups throughout a region. In this study, the authors use single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from 130 culturally distinct populations to assess the correlation between genetic distance and linguistic distance, while controlling for various cultural and geographic factors (in other words: when populations are more genetically dissimilar, do they also tend to be further apart linguistically?). Results suggest that while the often-referenced idea of sex-based transmission of language is not universally predictable, linguistic distance almost always tends to correlate positively to both spatial and mitochondrial genetic variation.