Population Size and the Rate of Language Evolution

A Test Across Indo-European, Austronesian, and Bantu Languages

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5816705
AutoresSimon J Greenhill (0000-0001-7832-6156, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, autor de correspondencia), Xia Hua (0000-0003-3485-789X, Australian National University), Caela F Welsh (Australian National University), Hilde Schneemann (0000-0002-7295-9734, Australian National University), L Bromham (0000-0003-2202-2609, Australian National University)
Año2018
Volumen9
Páginas576
Fecha de publicación2018-04-27
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFrontiers in Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1664-1078 • E-ISSN: 1664-1078
EditorialFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00576
PMID29755387
OpenAlexW2800996365
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas17
Referencias citadas60

What role does speaker population size play in shaping rates of language evolution? There has been little consensus on the expected relationship between rates and patterns of language change and speaker population size, with some predicting faster rates of change in smaller populations, and others expecting greater change in larger populations. The growth of comparative databases has allowed population size effects to be investigated across a wide range of language groups, with mixed results. One recent study of a group of Polynesian languages revealed greater rates of word gain in larger populations and greater rates of word loss in smaller populations. However, that test was restricted to 20 closely related languages from small Oceanic islands. Here, we test if this pattern is a general feature of language evolution across a larger and more diverse sample of languages from both continental and island populations. We analysed comparative language data for 153 pairs of closely-related sister languages from three of the world's largest language families: Austronesian, Indo-European and Niger-Congo. We find some evidence that rates of word loss are significantly greater in smaller languages for the Indo-European comparisons, but we find no significant patterns in the other two language families. These results suggest either that the influence of population size on rates and patterns of language evolution is not universal, or that it is sufficiently weak that it may be overwhelmed by other influences in some cases. Further investigation, for a greater number of language comparisons and a wider range of language features, may determine which of these explanations holds true

Austronesian languages · Bantu languages · Indo-European languages · Language and cultural evolution · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation