Language and genes: A new perspective on the origins of human cultural diversity

Nettle, Daniel

doi:10.1073/pnas.0704517104

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…The inter-connectedness of cultural traits that we demonstrate raises problems for the usefulness of statistical analyses as independent sources of knowledge. However, we suggest that nomothetic studies should be seen as hypothesis-generating tools that can work with and direct other methods such as idiographic studies, computational modelling, experiments and theoretical work [13,14]. We also suggest some methods that might improve statistical inference and insight in nomothetic studies, including phylogenetic techniques and inferred causal graphs [15].…”

Section: Roberts and Winters (2013): Linguistic Diversity And Traffic Amentioning

confidence: 98%

“…An illustrative example is found in classifying the size of a particular constant inventory for WALS. WALS determines its consonant inventory size data by binning raw consonant counts into the following categories: small (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14), moderately small (15)(16)(17)(18), average (2263), moderately large (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33) and large (34 or more) [55]. These categorical variables are useful for the context in which WALS was created: to highlight the geographic distribution of typological diversity around the globe.…”

Section: Galton's Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Languages adapt to their contextual niche

2014

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It is well established that context plays a fundamental role in how we learn and use language. Here we explore how context links short-term language use with the long-term emergence of different types of language system. Using an iterated learning model of cultural transmission, the current study experimentally investigates the role of the communicative situation in which an utterance is produced (situational context) and how it influences the emergence of three types of linguistic systems: underspecified languages (where only some dimensions of meaning are encoded linguistically), holistic systems (lacking systematic structure), and systematic languages (consisting of compound signals encoding both category-level and individuating dimensions of meaning). To do this, we set up a discrimination task in a communication game and manipulated whether the feature dimension shape was relevant or not in discriminating between two referents. The experimental languages gradually evolved to encode information relevant to the task of achieving communicative success, given the situational context in which they are learned and used, resulting in the emergence of different linguistic systems. These results suggest language systems adapt to their contextual niche over iterated learning.

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Section: Roberts and Winters (2013): Linguistic Diversity And Traffic Amentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Galton's Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Languages adapt to their contextual niche

2014

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“…For example, Dediu and Ladd's study of genetic correlates of speakers of tonal languages demonstrated that their hypothesised link was significantly stronger than thousands of similar links. This type of study can be very useful for discovering new links that can motivate new avenues of research [13], especially when direct evidence is difficult to obtain. The link between tone and specific genes might have taken much longer to discover by small-scale studies.…”

Section: Evaluating Nomothetic Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, we suggest that nomothetic studies should be seen as hypothesis-generating tools that can work with and direct other methods such as idiographic studies, computational modelling, experiments and theoretical work [13], [14]. We also suggest some methods that might improve statistical inference and insight in nomothetic studies, including phylogenetic techniques and inferred causal graphs [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Linguistic Diversity and Traffic Accidents: Lessons from Statistical Studies of Cultural Traits

2013

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The recent proliferation of digital databases of cultural and linguistic data, together with new statistical techniques becoming available has lead to a rise in so-called nomothetic studies [1]–[8]. These seek relationships between demographic variables and cultural traits from large, cross-cultural datasets. The insights from these studies are important for understanding how cultural traits evolve. While these studies are fascinating and are good at generating testable hypotheses, they may underestimate the probability of finding spurious correlations between cultural traits. Here we show that this kind of approach can find links between such unlikely cultural traits as traffic accidents, levels of extra-martial sex, political collectivism and linguistic diversity. This suggests that spurious correlations, due to historical descent, geographic diffusion or increased noise-to-signal ratios in large datasets, are much more likely than some studies admit. We suggest some criteria for the evaluation of nomothetic studies and some practical solutions to the problems. Since some of these studies are receiving media attention without a widespread understanding of the complexities of the issue, there is a risk that poorly controlled studies could affect policy. We hope to contribute towards a general skepticism for correlational studies by demonstrating the ease of finding apparently rigorous correlations between cultural traits. Despite this, we see well-controlled nomothetic studies as useful tools for the development of theories.

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“…Moreover, the interaction of genes and language continue to evolve, as shown by the recent finding that language change has been channeled by population genetics in the last few thousands of years (Dediu and Ladd, 2007;Nettle, 2007). There are also fundamental differences in the way language is implemented in brains (Catani et al, 2007), reflected in considerable individual differences in language performance, providing the raw material for ongoing evolution.…”

Section: Language Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time for a sea-change in linguistics: Response to comments on ‘The Myth of Language Universals’

Levinson

Evans

2010

Lingua

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The general issuesThis special issue replays many of the quarrels that have bedeviled the discipline over the last fifty years. Most of these disputes are undignified and ill-informed, and do not serve the discipline well (see e.g. Newmeyer, 1983Newmeyer, , 1999Newmeyer, , 2005. Nevertheless, there is much at stake -in particular the hearts and minds of young scholars whom we hope will advance linguistics. The new generation have excellent instincts for changes in the academic landscape, and they will look for fresh approaches with a clear sense of mission. Discussions of the sort in this special issue are not the place then to make cheap debating points. We all have a sense of a tipping point in the language sciences, and the question is: What is the way forward?We believe that linguistics is on the brink of major changes in data, methods and theory. This was the message we tried to get across in the BBS paper and perhaps especially in our response to the 23 earlier comments in BBS -a response, we suspect, that many of the commentators here have failed to study. A B S T R A C TThis paper argues that the language sciences are on the brink of major changes in primary data, methods and theory. Reactions to 'The myth of language universals' (Evans and Levinson, 2009a,b) divide in response to these new challenges. Chomskyan-inspired 'Clinguists' defend a status quo, based on intuitive data and disparate universalizing abstract frameworks, reflecting 30 years of changing models. Linguists driven by interests in richer data and linguistic diversity, 'D-linguists', though more responsive to the new developments, have tended to lack an integrating framework. Here we outline such an integrative framework of the kind we were presupposing in 'Myth', namely a coevolutionary model of the interaction between mind and cultural linguistic traditions which puts variation central at all levels -a model that offers the right kind of response to the new challenges. In doing so we traverse the fundamental questions raised by the commentary in this special issue: What constitutes the data, what is the place of formal representations, how should linguistic comparison be done, what counts as explanation, what is the source of design in language?Radical changes in data, methods and theory are upon us. The future of the discipline will depend on responses to these changes: either the field turns in on itself and atrophies, or it modernizes, and tries to capitalize on the way language lies at the intersection of all the disciplines interested in human nature. ßIn the response here we try to locate the central issues in this collection of eighteen further responses to our BBS paper. As before, about half are pro and half are con. Here, drawing support from the pros we try to sharpen our own position, while focussing on the cons, to see exactly where the fault lines lie. The issues matter enormously to a discipline which, if it makes the right moves, can regain its centrality as the study of what makes us human, thus linking the humanities,...

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Language and genes: A new perspective on the origins of human cultural diversity

Cited by 17 publications

References 19 publications

Languages adapt to their contextual niche

Languages adapt to their contextual niche

Linguistic Diversity and Traffic Accidents: Lessons from Statistical Studies of Cultural Traits

Time for a sea-change in linguistics: Response to comments on ‘The Myth of Language Universals’

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