Hypotheses
- Language diversity among Pacific islands will be positively associated with land area (959).Gavin, Michael C. - The island biogeography of languages, 2012 - 2 Variables
This paper examines the enormous variation in linguistic diversity among Pacific Islands by testing its relationship with various environmental variables put forth in several common theories of language richness. The researchers identify variables relating to land area and island isolation as accounting for about half of variation in linguistic diversity, suggesting that the other half is a result of complex social factors.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Genetic distance will be positively associated with linguistic variability (2).Brown, Steven - Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language, 2014 - 2 Variables
By testing relationships between musical, geographic, genetic, and linguistic distance among nine indigenous groups in Taiwan, the researchers aim to quantitatively evaluate a developing theory of coevolution between these traits. An especially strong correlation between musical variability and genetic distance suggests that music may possess worldwide time depth, diversity, and universality equal to or greater than that of language, and could thus serve as a complementary marker for reconstruction of long-term population shifts.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Geographic distance will be positively associated with linguistic variability (2).Brown, Steven - Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language, 2014 - 2 Variables
By testing relationships between musical, geographic, genetic, and linguistic distance among nine indigenous groups in Taiwan, the researchers aim to quantitatively evaluate a developing theory of coevolution between these traits. An especially strong correlation between musical variability and genetic distance suggests that music may possess worldwide time depth, diversity, and universality equal to or greater than that of language, and could thus serve as a complementary marker for reconstruction of long-term population shifts.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Land ownership norms will have both vertically and horizontally cultural transmission.Haynie, Hannah J. - The biogeography and evolution of land ownership, 2023 - 3 Variables
This study asks the following research questions: What are the dynamics of land ownership norms over time? Do these changes follow predetermined trajectories? The authors utilize biogeographical and evolutionary analyses to explore temporal and spatial patterns in land ownership norms within a sample of 73 Bantu societies. For the first component of the research, they test three prominent hypotheses regarding evolutionary trajectories: rectilinear, unilinear, and shift without restriction. For the second component, they use a multi-model inference approach to evaluate three hypotheses regarding the possible spatial patterns of land ownership. The results show evidence for the unilinear trajectory in type, but not with a consistent decrease in group ownership in size. Land ownership is more likely in areas with neighboring landowners and predictable resource productivity, while subsistence type is not significantly correlated with type of land ownership.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Genetic distance will be positively associated with geographic distance (2).Brown, Steven - Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language, 2014 - 2 Variables
By testing relationships between musical, geographic, genetic, and linguistic distance among nine indigenous groups in Taiwan, the researchers aim to quantitatively evaluate a developing theory of coevolution between these traits. An especially strong correlation between musical variability and genetic distance suggests that music may possess worldwide time depth, diversity, and universality equal to or greater than that of language, and could thus serve as a complementary marker for reconstruction of long-term population shifts.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Musical variability will be positively associated with linguistic variability (2).Brown, Steven - Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language, 2014 - 2 Variables
By testing relationships between musical, geographic, genetic, and linguistic distance among nine indigenous groups in Taiwan, the researchers aim to quantitatively evaluate a developing theory of coevolution between these traits. An especially strong correlation between musical variability and genetic distance suggests that music may possess worldwide time depth, diversity, and universality equal to or greater than that of language, and could thus serve as a complementary marker for reconstruction of long-term population shifts.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Geographic distance will be positively associated with variability in musical characteristics (2).Brown, Steven - Correlations in the population structure of music, genes and language, 2014 - 2 Variables
By testing relationships between musical, geographic, genetic, and linguistic distance among nine indigenous groups in Taiwan, the researchers aim to quantitatively evaluate a developing theory of coevolution between these traits. An especially strong correlation between musical variability and genetic distance suggests that music may possess worldwide time depth, diversity, and universality equal to or greater than that of language, and could thus serve as a complementary marker for reconstruction of long-term population shifts.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - The features identified in the APiCS are associated with substrate or lexifier ancestry groups.Blasi, Damian E. - Grammars are robustly transmitted even during the emergence of creole languages, 2017 - 2 Variables
The authors statistically test existing theories and proposals regarding the existence and nature of the creole language profile. Results indicate that consistencies and variation between creole languages, as with non-creole languages, is a result of genealogical and contact processes. However, creole languages are unique from non-creole languages in that they have more than one language in their ancestry. Findings "call into question the existence of a pidgin stage in creole development and of creole-specific innovations." Support is found for the idea that language learning and transmission are strikingly resilient processes.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Association between geographic language area and various environmental variables will be stronger among pastoralists and foragers than among agriculturalists (7).Currie, Thomas E. - The evolution of ethnolinguistic diversity, 2012 - 6 Variables
The authors test the relationship between ethnolinguistic area and various environmental variables in a cross-cultural sample of hunter-gatherer, pastoral, and agricultural subsistence groups in order to evaluate various hypotheses surrounding the geographic and ecological origins of cultural diversity. They propose that societies which adopted agriculture at the beginning of the Holocene were less directly affected by climate which, combined with the effect of increasing political and cultural complexity, allowed coordination and homogenization of ethnolinguistic groups over a broader swathe of territory.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - A variety of ecological, economic, and anthropological factors will predict the prevalence of land ownership.Kavanagh, Patrick H. - Drivers of global variation in land ownership, 2021 - 11 Variables
The article discusses the role of land ownership in natural resource management and social-ecological resilience, and explores the factors that determine ownership norms in human societies. The study tests long-standing theories from ecology, economics, and anthropology regarding the potential drivers of land ownership, including resource defensibility, subsistence strategies, population pressure, political complexity, and cultural transmission mechanisms. Using cultural and environmental data from 102 societies, the study found an increased probability of land ownership in mountainous environments and societies with higher population densities. The study also found support for the idea that neighboring societies might influence land ownership. However, there was less support for variables associated with subsistence strategies and political complexity.
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