dc.contributor.author |
Atkinson, Quentin |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Meade, A |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Venditti, C |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Greenhill, Simon |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Pagel, M |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2012-01-23T02:02:36Z |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2008 |
en |
dc.identifier.citation |
Science 319(5863):588 2008 |
en |
dc.identifier.issn |
0036-8075 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/10653 |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
Linguists speculate that human languages often evolve in rapid or punctuational bursts, sometimes associated with their emergence from other languages, but this phenomenon has never been demonstrated. We used vocabulary data from three of the world's major language groups—Bantu, Indo-European, and Austronesian—to show that 10 to 33% of the overall vocabulary differences among these languages arose from rapid bursts of change associated with language-splitting events. Our findings identify a general tendency for increased rates of linguistic evolution in fledgling languages, perhaps arising from a linguistic founder effect or a desire to establish a distinct social identity. |
en |
dc.publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science |
en |
dc.relation.ispartofseries |
Science |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Details obtained from http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0036-8075/ |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.title |
Languages evolve in punctuational bursts. |
en |
dc.type |
Journal Article |
en |
dc.identifier.doi |
10.1126/science.1149683 |
en |
pubs.issue |
5863 |
en |
pubs.begin-page |
588 |
en |
pubs.volume |
319 |
en |
dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: American Association for the Advancement of Science |
en |
dc.identifier.pmid |
18239118 |
en |
dc.rights.accessrights |
http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/RestrictedAccess |
en |
pubs.subtype |
Article |
en |
pubs.elements-id |
83892 |
en |
pubs.org-id |
Science |
en |
pubs.org-id |
Psychology |
en |
pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2010-09-01 |
en |
pubs.dimensions-id |
18239118 |
en |