Hypotheses
- Ma and Na sound classes will be used for the mother, while Pa and Ta sound classes will be used for the father (2, 4).Murdock, George Peter - Cross-language parallels in parental kin terms, 1959 - 2 Variables
This article examines the universal tendency for languages, regardless of their historical relationships, to develop similar words for mother and father on the basis of nursery forms. Findings suggest that Ma, Na, Pa, and Ta are significantly more common sound classes denoting the mother or father.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Nasal consonants, non-nasal labial stops, and low vowels will the sounds most frequently used by young children to denote the mother and father (1).Murdock, George Peter - Cross-language parallels in parental kin terms, 1959 - 2 Variables
This article examines the universal tendency for languages, regardless of their historical relationships, to develop similar words for mother and father on the basis of nursery forms. Findings suggest that Ma, Na, Pa, and Ta are significantly more common sound classes denoting the mother or father.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - The salience of color categories in folk tales is positively associated with the evolutionary sequence proposed by Berlin and Kay (1969) (233).Bolton, Ralph - Color terms in folk tales: a cross-cultural study, 1979 - 2 Variables
Using a sample derived from the available folk tale literature, researchers test whether the salience of color terms in folk tales follow the evolutionary sequence put forth by Berlin and Kay (1969). Results support the hypothesis.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Languages with larger speaker populations had higher rates of gain of new words than did their smaller sister languages (2100).Bromham, Lindell - Rate of language evolution is affected by population size, 2012 - 2 Variables
Population size is generally assumed to play a pivotal role in the evolution of languages and cultures, but the expected patterns and potential mechanisms of change are unsettled. Theoretical models are limited by this uncertainty because they require making prior assumptions about language evolution. Using a sample of 20 Polynesian languages, authors test the effect of population size on the gain, loss, and total change of basic vocabulary words.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Languages with a smaller number of speakers had higher rates of loss of lexemes from basic vocabulary than did their larger sister languages (2100).Bromham, Lindell - Rate of language evolution is affected by population size, 2012 - 2 Variables
Population size is generally assumed to play a pivotal role in the evolution of languages and cultures, but the expected patterns and potential mechanisms of change are unsettled. Theoretical models are limited by this uncertainty because they require making prior assumptions about language evolution. Using a sample of 20 Polynesian languages, authors test the effect of population size on the gain, loss, and total change of basic vocabulary words.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Total rate of change (word gain plus word loss) is related to population size.Bromham, Lindell - Rate of language evolution is affected by population size, 2012 - 2 Variables
Population size is generally assumed to play a pivotal role in the evolution of languages and cultures, but the expected patterns and potential mechanisms of change are unsettled. Theoretical models are limited by this uncertainty because they require making prior assumptions about language evolution. Using a sample of 20 Polynesian languages, authors test the effect of population size on the gain, loss, and total change of basic vocabulary words.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Speech communities further from the equator will be positively associated with having six or more basic color terms (364)Ember, Melvin - Size of color lexicon: interaction of cultural and biological factors, 1978 - 2 Variables
Different languages contain different numbers of basic colors. One interpretation is that more complex societies will have more basic color terms. Another interpretation is that peoples with less pigmented eyes will have more basic color terms. This paper suggests that both interpretations are necessary in order to predict the number of basic color terms.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - Ambient humidity will be positively associated with vowel utilization.Everett, Caleb - Languages in Drier Climates Use Fewer Vowels, 2017 - 3 Variables
This study sampled over 4,012 language varieties, comparing their version of 40 generally universal words, such as body parts, water, the sun, pronouns, and common behaviors or animals. These language variations were tested in their association to "specific humidity," the variable used to represent ambient humidity of a language location. Results suggest negative association between the dryness of climate and the utilization of vowels, consitent with the idea that dry air affects the behavior of the larynx.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - "The relative frequency of masculine and feminine nouns in languages with sex gender may be partially determined by . . . the degree of 'sex bias' present in the social structure" (206)Munroe, Robert L. - A cross cultural study of sex gender and social structure, 1969 - 4 Variables
Authors hypothesize that grammatical sex gender may be related to social structural variables. Results support this hypothesis and suggest that the degree of sex bias in the social structure is associated with the relative frequency of masculine and feminine nouns in languages with sex gender.
Related Hypotheses Cite More By Author - The number of color terms in a society's language is strongly correlated with its level of social complexity (1118)Hays, David G. - Color term salience, 1972 - 2 Variables
This paper examines the Berlin-Kay color salience theory and offers four correlates of color salience: earliness of introduction, brevity of expression, frequency of use, and frequency of mention in ethnographic literature. All four correlations support the Berlin-Kay theory. The authors suggest that salience may be “an important general principle of cultural evolution” (1107).
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