Found 4427 Hypotheses across 443 Pages (0.03 seconds)
  1. The probabilistic creole profile efficiently discriminates between creole and non-creole language featuresBlasi, 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. There is a trade-off of complexity between nominal and verbal domains across languages in a global scale.Shcherbakova, Olena - A quantitative global test of the complexity trade-off hypothesis: the case ..., 2023 - 2 Variables

    The "equi-complexity hypothesis" suggests that there is an equal complexity across languages, meaning that there are constant trade-offs between different domains. Using phylogenetic modelling in a sample of 244 languages, this study follows a diachronic perspective to explore if there is an inversed coevolution within the grammatical coding of nominal and verbal domains. The results show that while there appears to be a coevolutionary relationship between some features of these two domains, there is no evidence to support the idea that all languages maintain an overall equilibrium of grammatical complexity. Rather, the correlation nominal and verbal domains vary between lineages. Austronesian languages do not show a coevolution between the domains. Sino-Tibetan languages seem to have a positive correlation while Indo-European languages appear to have a negative correlation, meaning that this inverse coevolution can be lineage specific.

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  4. Grammatical features of language tend to change at a slower rate than basic vocabulary.Greenhill, Simon J. - Evolutionary dynamics of language systems, 2017 - 2 Variables

    How do subsystems of language evolve over time? It is commonly assumed that grammatical changes of language are slower than vocabulary changes. Using a Dirichlet process mixture model to analyze rates of language evolution in 81 Austronesian languages, the authors find that to the contrary, the grammatical features of language tend to change at a faster rate than basic vocabulary. Furthermore, their results show that grammatical features have higher rates of homoplasy, more frequent contact-induced change, and less deliberate differentiation than basic vocabulary.

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  5. Grammatical features have higher rates of homoplasy than basic vocabulary.Greenhill, Simon J. - Evolutionary dynamics of language systems, 2017 - 2 Variables

    How do subsystems of language evolve over time? It is commonly assumed that grammatical changes of language are slower than vocabulary changes. Using a Dirichlet process mixture model to analyze rates of language evolution in 81 Austronesian languages, the authors find that to the contrary, the grammatical features of language tend to change at a faster rate than basic vocabulary. Furthermore, their results show that grammatical features have higher rates of homoplasy, more frequent contact-induced change, and less deliberate differentiation than basic vocabulary.

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  6. Grammatical features exhibit less schismogenesis than basic vocabulary.Greenhill, Simon J. - Evolutionary dynamics of language systems, 2017 - 2 Variables

    How do subsystems of language evolve over time? It is commonly assumed that grammatical changes of language are slower than vocabulary changes. Using a Dirichlet process mixture model to analyze rates of language evolution in 81 Austronesian languages, the authors find that to the contrary, the grammatical features of language tend to change at a faster rate than basic vocabulary. Furthermore, their results show that grammatical features have higher rates of homoplasy, more frequent contact-induced change, and less deliberate differentiation than basic vocabulary.

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  7. Grammatical complexity is predicted by language phylogeny and spatial contiguity.Shcherbakova, Olena - Societies of strangers do not speak less complex languages, 2023 - 3 Variables

    Is grammatical complexity shaped by sociodemographic and sociolinguistic factors? The previously accepted "linguistic niche hypothesis" claims that with an increased number of nonnative speakers in a social group (high exotericity), grammatic complexity decreases; on the other hand, grammatical complexity increases amongst isolated linguistic communities (low exotericity). Through the use of spatiophylogenetic modelling of 1314 languages, the authors of this study do not find adequate evidence to support the linguistic niche hypothesis. Instead, they suggest that linguistic complexity is better predicted by phylogeny and geographic contiguity.

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  8. There is a relationship between genetic variation and grammar beyond the level of language families.Matsumae, Hiromi - Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language fam..., 2021 - 2 Variables

    This article explores the possible relationship between the cultural evolution of language, music, and genetic variation beyond the level of language families. Due to their linguistic diversity, the authors use a sample of 14 Northeast Asian societies with matching information on their music, genetics, and linguistic patterns. The variables measuring language are lexicon, phonology, and grammar. Then, the authors compare each variable's relationship to music and genetic variation. The results only show a significant correlation between grammar and genetic variation.

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  9. There is a relationship between music and grammar beyond the level of language families.Matsumae, Hiromi - Exploring correlations in genetic and cultural variation across language fam..., 2021 - 2 Variables

    This article explores the possible relationship between the cultural evolution of language, music, and genetic variation beyond the level of language families. Due to their linguistic diversity, the authors use a sample of 14 Northeast Asian societies with matching information on their music, genetics, and linguistic patterns. The variables measuring language are lexicon, phonology, and grammar. Then, the authors compare each variable's relationship to music and genetic variation. The results only show a significant correlation between grammar and genetic variation.

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  10. Grammatical complexity of a language is predicted by the proportion of nonnative speakers.Shcherbakova, Olena - Societies of strangers do not speak less complex languages, 2023 - 5 Variables

    Is grammatical complexity shaped by sociodemographic and sociolinguistic factors? The previously accepted "linguistic niche hypothesis" claims that with an increased number of nonnative speakers in a social group (high exotericity), grammatic complexity decreases; on the other hand, grammatical complexity increases amongst isolated linguistic communities (low exotericity). Through the use of spatiophylogenetic modelling of 1314 languages, the authors of this study do not find adequate evidence to support the linguistic niche hypothesis. Instead, they suggest that linguistic complexity is better predicted by phylogeny and geographic contiguity.

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