The island biogeography of languages
Global Ecology and Biogeography • Vol/Iss. 21(10) • Blackwell Publishing Ltd • • Published In • Pages: 958-967 •
By Gavin, Michael C. , Sibanda, Nokuthaba
Hypothesis
Language diversity among Pacific islands will be positively associated with land area (959).
Note
Of various response variables tested, the strongest correlation (land area) is recorded. Other variables without significant correlations include rainfall, elevation, absolute latitude, mean growing season, rainfall, number of ecoregions, continental dust fall, tephra, and island type. Other variables with significant correlations are settlement scale and distance to closest continent (see other hypothesis).
| Test Name | Support | Significance | Coefficient | Tail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple regression | Supported | P < 0.05 | R-squared = 0.52 | UNKNOWN |
| Variable Name | Variable Type | OCM Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic Area | Independent | Location |
| Linguistic diversity | Dependent | Linguistic Identification |