L. Barceló-Coblijn, Cory Cuthbertson, K. Graham, S. Hartmann, M. Pleyer
The 11th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (Evolang 11) was hosted at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, USA, from 21 March to 24 March 2016. The University of Southern Mississippi organised the conference, with Heidi Lyn as Chair of the local organising committee. Over 200 delegates gathered for this second American Evolang, and were treated not only to a wide range of current research in language origins and evolution, but also to local ‘NOLA’ food and culture as well. Evolang hosted a reception at Mardi Gras World—a stylised warehouse storing numerous Mardi Gras floats and costumes, where guests were serenaded with a brass band and committee members threw beads into the amused, cocktail-sipping crowd. The conference banquet was held at the colonial-era-style Audubon Tea Room with live jazz and a swing dancing lesson led by Thom Scott-Phillips. Post-conference events included a ghost tour, swamp tours, and a plantation tour. This was the 20th anniversary of the very first Evolang, held in Edinburgh in 1996, and saw the release of the first issue of the Journal of Language Evolution . With a 20-year history, it is hardly surprising that there has been a strong ‘self-reflective’ tendency at recent Evolang conferences, as witnessed, for example, in the ‘Perspectives on Evolang’ section in the proceedings of Evolang 10 (Cartmill et al. 2014), as well as in some of the contributions in the first issue of JoLE (Dediu and de Boer 2016; Hammarstrom 2016). Something that is repeatedly mentioned in these publications is the observation that ‘work on language evolution has become much more rigorous: we are discovering methods by which questions we could formerly only speculate about can now be investigated empirically’ (de Boer 2014). These ‘self-reflective’ tendencies were also exemplified …
第十一届语言进化国际会议(Evolang 11)于2016年3月21日至24日在美国洛杉矶新奥尔良杜兰大学Lavin-Bernick大学生活中心举行。南密西西比大学组织了这次会议，海蒂·林恩担任当地组织委员会主席。200多名代表参加了第二届美国Evolang，他们不仅了解了广泛的语言起源和演变的最新研究，还了解了当地的“NOLA”食物和文化。Evolang在狂欢节世界(Mardi Gras world)举办了一场招待会——这是一个存放大量狂欢节花车和服装的风格仓库，在那里，铜管乐队为客人们献上了小夜曲，委员会成员向开心的、喝着鸡尾酒的人群投掷珠子。会议宴会在殖民时代风格的奥杜邦茶室举行，现场爵士乐和由汤姆·斯科特·菲利普斯(Thom Scott-Phillips)主持的摇摆舞课。会后的活动包括幽灵之旅、沼泽之旅和种植园之旅。这是1996年在爱丁堡举行的第一次Evolang会议的20周年纪念，也是第一期《语言进化杂志》(Journal of Language Evolution)的发行。拥有20年的历史，在最近的Evolang会议上出现强烈的“自我反思”趋势并不令人惊讶，例如，在Evolang 10会议录的“Evolang观点”部分(Cartmill et al. 2014)，以及在JoLE第一期的一些贡献中(Dediu和de Boer 2016;Hammarstrom 2016)。这些出版物中反复提到的一件事是观察到“语言进化的工作变得更加严格:我们正在发现一些方法，通过这些方法，我们以前只能推测的问题现在可以进行经验调查”(de Boer 2014)。这些“自我反思”的倾向也得到了例证……
{"title":"Conference Report on Evolang 11","authors":"L. Barceló-Coblijn, Cory Cuthbertson, K. Graham, S. Hartmann, M. Pleyer","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZW010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZW010","url":null,"abstract":"The 11th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (Evolang 11) was hosted at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, USA, from 21 March to 24 March 2016. The University of Southern Mississippi organised the conference, with Heidi Lyn as Chair of the local organising committee. Over 200 delegates gathered for this second American Evolang, and were treated not only to a wide range of current research in language origins and evolution, but also to local ‘NOLA’ food and culture as well. Evolang hosted a reception at Mardi Gras World—a stylised warehouse storing numerous Mardi Gras floats and costumes, where guests were serenaded with a brass band and committee members threw beads into the amused, cocktail-sipping crowd. The conference banquet was held at the colonial-era-style Audubon Tea Room with live jazz and a swing dancing lesson led by Thom Scott-Phillips. Post-conference events included a ghost tour, swamp tours, and a plantation tour.\u0000\u0000This was the 20th anniversary of the very first Evolang, held in Edinburgh in 1996, and saw the release of the first issue of the Journal of Language Evolution . With a 20-year history, it is hardly surprising that there has been a strong ‘self-reflective’ tendency at recent Evolang conferences, as witnessed, for example, in the ‘Perspectives on Evolang’ section in the proceedings of Evolang 10 (Cartmill et al. 2014), as well as in some of the contributions in the first issue of JoLE (Dediu and de Boer 2016; Hammarstrom 2016). Something that is repeatedly mentioned in these publications is the observation that ‘work on language evolution has become much more rigorous: we are discovering methods by which questions we could formerly only speculate about can now be investigated empirically’ (de Boer 2014). These ‘self-reflective’ tendencies were also exemplified …","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"159-162"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZW010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61534243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The impact of introducing double-blind reviewing in the most recent Evolution of Language conference is assessed. The ranking of papers is compared between EvoLang 11 (double-blind review) and EvoLang 9 and 10 (single-blind review). Main effects were found for first author gender by conference. The results mirror some findings in the literature on the effects of double-blind review, suggesting that it helps reduce a bias against female authors.
{"title":"Double-blind reviewing at EvoLang 11 reveals gender bias","authors":"Seán G. Roberts, T. Verhoef","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZW009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZW009","url":null,"abstract":"The impact of introducing double-blind reviewing in the most recent Evolution of Language conference is assessed. The ranking of papers is compared between EvoLang 11 (double-blind review) and EvoLang 9 and 10 (single-blind review). Main effects were found for first author gender by conference. The results mirror some findings in the literature on the effects of double-blind review, suggesting that it helps reduce a bias against female authors.","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"163-167"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61534110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cross-examining evidence from comparative morphology has become a way to support specific hypotheses in social cognition. In particular, ocular morphology has been compared across extant primate species in order to argue that humans present a unique morphology that enables also an uniquely human array of socio-cognitive functions—including a crucial role in the acquisition and practice of linguistic abilities. Even though some of these comparisons have relied on quantifiable dimensions of ocular morphology, other aspects of the comparison have been established qualitatively, based on subjective ratings. In this article, I present a new method that intends to restrain the focus of attention to one specific perceptual aspect of ocular morphology—namely, the contrast between scleral and iridal colors, as it is thought to enable (or ease) gaze following from other individuals. The method also allows for more reliable comparisons across extant primate species, as it relies on quantifiable measurements. I exemplify the potential of this method with a three-fold comparison of three great ape species ( Pongo pygmaeus , Pongo abelii , and Homo sapiens ).
{"title":"Quantifying ocular morphologies in extant primates for reliable interspecific comparisons","authors":"J. García","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZW004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZW004","url":null,"abstract":"Cross-examining evidence from comparative morphology has become a way to support specific hypotheses in social cognition. In particular, ocular morphology has been compared across extant primate species in order to argue that humans present a unique morphology that enables also an uniquely human array of socio-cognitive functions—including a crucial role in the acquisition and practice of linguistic abilities. Even though some of these comparisons have relied on quantifiable dimensions of ocular morphology, other aspects of the comparison have been established qualitatively, based on subjective ratings. In this article, I present a new method that intends to restrain the focus of attention to one specific perceptual aspect of ocular morphology—namely, the contrast between scleral and iridal colors, as it is thought to enable (or ease) gaze following from other individuals. The method also allows for more reliable comparisons across extant primate species, as it relies on quantifiable measurements. I exemplify the potential of this method with a three-fold comparison of three great ape species ( Pongo pygmaeus , Pongo abelii , and Homo sapiens ).","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"58 1","pages":"151-158"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZW004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61534186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Numerals have fascinated and mystified linguists, mathematicians and lay persons alike for centuries. The productive use of numerals (in languages where this happens) exploits recursivity to give rise to what we call the ‘the number line’. While the smaller numerals 1–10 have enjoyed intense scrutiny, the typological study of the formation of the higher numerals has received comparatively less attention. This article contains a comprehensive typological account of how languages in the Indo-European language family code numerals beyond 10 (10–99, 100s, 1,000s), the morphemes involved, and how these are ordered. We use this dataset from eighty-one Indo-European languages with phylogenetic comparative methods to propose diachronic reconstructions of these patterns in the Proto-Indo-European language. Our findings indicate that small numerals (11–19) show the widest cross-linguistic variation, and that higher numerals exhibit more consistency in both component parts and their ordering. Additionally, we show statistical evidence of correlations between the ordering of base and atom morphemes and other word order patterns (noun-postposition, noun-genitive, and verb-object order).
{"title":"The typology and diachrony of higher numerals in Indo-European: a phylogenetic comparative study","authors":"Andreea S. Calude, Annemarie Verkerk","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZW003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZW003","url":null,"abstract":"Numerals have fascinated and mystified linguists, mathematicians and lay persons alike for centuries. The productive use of numerals (in languages where this happens) exploits recursivity to give rise to what we call the ‘the number line’. While the smaller numerals 1–10 have enjoyed intense scrutiny, the typological study of the formation of the higher numerals has received comparatively less attention. This article contains a comprehensive typological account of how languages in the Indo-European language family code numerals beyond 10 (10–99, 100s, 1,000s), the morphemes involved, and how these are ordered. We use this dataset from eighty-one Indo-European languages with phylogenetic comparative methods to propose diachronic reconstructions of these patterns in the Proto-Indo-European language. Our findings indicate that small numerals (11–19) show the widest cross-linguistic variation, and that higher numerals exhibit more consistency in both component parts and their ordering. Additionally, we show statistical evidence of correlations between the ordering of base and atom morphemes and other word order patterns (noun-postposition, noun-genitive, and verb-object order).","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"91-108"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZW003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61533876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Savithry Namboodiripad, Daniel Lenzen, R. Lepic, T. Verhoef
Gestures produced by users of spoken languages differ from signs produced by users of sign languages in that gestures are more typically ad hoc and idiosyncratic, while signs are more typically conventionalized and shared within a language community. To measure how gestures may change over time as a result of the process of conventionalization, we used a social coordination game to elicit repeated silent gestures from hearing non-signers, and used Microsoft Kinect to unobtrusively track the movement of their bodies as they gestured. Our approach follows from a tradition of laboratory experiments designed to study language evolution and draws upon insights from sign language research on language emergence. Working with silent gesture, we were able to simulate and quantify hallmarks of conventionalization that have been described for sign languages, in the laboratory. With Kinect, we measured a reduction in the size of the articulatory space and a decrease in the distance traveled by the articulators, while communicative success increased between participants over time. This approach opens the door for more direct future comparisons between ad hoc gestures produced in the lab and natural sign languages in the world.
{"title":"Measuring conventionalization in the manual modality","authors":"Savithry Namboodiripad, Daniel Lenzen, R. Lepic, T. Verhoef","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZW005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZW005","url":null,"abstract":"Gestures produced by users of spoken languages differ from signs produced by users of sign languages in that gestures are more typically ad hoc and idiosyncratic, while signs are more typically conventionalized and shared within a language community. To measure how gestures may change over time as a result of the process of conventionalization, we used a social coordination game to elicit repeated silent gestures from hearing non-signers, and used Microsoft Kinect to unobtrusively track the movement of their bodies as they gestured. Our approach follows from a tradition of laboratory experiments designed to study language evolution and draws upon insights from sign language research on language emergence. Working with silent gesture, we were able to simulate and quantify hallmarks of conventionalization that have been described for sign languages, in the laboratory. With Kinect, we measured a reduction in the size of the articulatory space and a decrease in the distance traveled by the articulators, while communicative success increased between participants over time. This approach opens the door for more direct future comparisons between ad hoc gestures produced in the lab and natural sign languages in the world.","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"109-118"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61534265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
When doing empirical studies in the field of language evolution, change over time is an inherent dimension. This tutorial introduces readers to mixed models, Growth Curve Analysis (GCA) and Generalized Additive Models (GAMs). These approaches are ideal for analyzing nonlinear change over time where there are nested dependencies, such as time points within dyad (in repeated interaction experiments) or time points within chain (in iterated learning experiments). In addition, the tutorial gives recommendations for choices about model fitting. Annotated scripts in the online [Supplementary Data][1] provide the reader with R code to serve as a springboard for the reader’s own analyses. [1]: http://jole.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1093/jole/lzv003/-/DC1
{"title":"How to analyze linguistic change using mixed models, Growth Curve Analysis and Generalized Additive Modeling","authors":"Bodo Winter, Martijn B. Wieling","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZV003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZV003","url":null,"abstract":"When doing empirical studies in the field of language evolution, change over time is an inherent dimension. This tutorial introduces readers to mixed models, Growth Curve Analysis (GCA) and Generalized Additive Models (GAMs). These approaches are ideal for analyzing nonlinear change over time where there are nested dependencies, such as time points within dyad (in repeated interaction experiments) or time points within chain (in iterated learning experiments). In addition, the tutorial gives recommendations for choices about model fitting. Annotated scripts in the online [Supplementary Data][1] provide the reader with R code to serve as a springboard for the reader’s own analyses. [1]: http://jole.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1093/jole/lzv003/-/DC1","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"7-18"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZV003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61533186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We make the case that, contra standard assumption in linguistic theory, the sound systems of human languages are adapted to their environment. While not conclusive, this plausible case rests on several points discussed in this work: First, human behavior is generally adaptive and the assumption that this characteristic does not extend to linguistic structure is empirically unsubstantiated. Second, animal communication systems are well known to be adaptive within species across a variety of phyla and taxa. Third, research in laryngology demonstrates clearly that ambient desiccation impacts the performance of the human vocal cords. The latter point motivates a clear, testable hypothesis with respect to the synchronic global distribution of language types. Fourth, this hypothesis is supported in our own previous work, and here we discuss new approaches being developed to further explore the hypothesis. We conclude by suggesting that the time has come to more substantively examine the possibility that linguistic sound systems are adapted to their physical ecology.
{"title":"Language evolution and climate: the case of desiccation and tone","authors":"C. Everett, Damián E. Blasi, Seán G. Roberts","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZV004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZV004","url":null,"abstract":"We make the case that, contra standard assumption in linguistic theory, the sound systems of human languages are adapted to their environment. While not conclusive, this plausible case rests on several points discussed in this work: First, human behavior is generally adaptive and the assumption that this characteristic does not extend to linguistic structure is empirically unsubstantiated. Second, animal communication systems are well known to be adaptive within species across a variety of phyla and taxa. Third, research in laryngology demonstrates clearly that ambient desiccation impacts the performance of the human vocal cords. The latter point motivates a clear, testable hypothesis with respect to the synchronic global distribution of language types. Fourth, this hypothesis is supported in our own previous work, and here we discuss new approaches being developed to further explore the hypothesis. We conclude by suggesting that the time has come to more substantively examine the possibility that linguistic sound systems are adapted to their physical ecology.","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"33-46"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZV004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61533218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this response I make three distinct points. First and most important, I identify a logical premise of Everett et al.’s (2016) explanation for the correlation between humidity and complex tone, and briefly present empirical evidence that the premise is questionable. Second (and ultimately equally important), I point out that their definition of ‘complex tone’ is equivocal between two quite distinct senses. Third, I offer a speculative alternative approach to explaining the correlation. Everett et al. emphasize that they have formulated a hypothesis and tested it empirically. That is, they predict on independent grounds that tone languages should be more common where humidity is high, and then provide evidence that this prediction is valid. The logic of their prediction is as follows: They provide plenty of evidence for the first premise, and (lacking relevant specialist knowledge in statistics) I am willing to accept their demonstration of the geographical correlation that supports the conclusion. However, there is good reason to doubt the second premise. Over the course of many years, I have conducted studies in which speakers read prepared sentences under studio conditions. These studies have generally aimed to test the effect of specific structural manipulations on fundamental frequency (F0) at specific points in the utterance. For example, in one such experiment (Ladd 1988), I compared English sentences of the form A and B but C and A but B and C (where A, B , and C are short clauses), looking for (and finding) F0 differences on the accented syllables of the clauses depending on the structure. A consistent finding in all these studies is that, for any given speaker, mean F0 …
在这个回应中，我提出了三点不同的观点。首先，也是最重要的是，我确定了Everett等人(2016)对湿度与复杂音调之间相关性的解释的逻辑前提，并简要地提出了该前提值得怀疑的经验证据。其次(也是同样重要的)，我指出他们对“复杂音调”的定义在两种截然不同的感觉之间是模棱两可的。第三，我提供了一种投机性的替代方法来解释这种相关性。Everett等人强调他们已经制定了一个假设并进行了实证检验。也就是说，他们以独立的理由预测，在湿度高的地方，声调语言应该更常见，然后提供证据证明这一预测是有效的。他们的预测逻辑如下:他们为第一个前提提供了大量的证据，并且(缺乏相关的统计学专业知识)我愿意接受他们对支持结论的地理相关性的论证。然而，我们有充分的理由怀疑第二个前提。多年来，我进行了一些研究，让说话者在演播室的条件下朗读准备好的句子。这些研究通常旨在测试特定结构操作对话语中特定点的基频(F0)的影响。例如，在一个这样的实验中(Ladd 1988)，我比较了形式为A and B but C和A but B and C的英语句子(其中A, B和C是短分句)，根据结构寻找(并发现)分句重音音节的F0个差异。所有这些研究的一致发现是，对于任何给定的说话者，平均F0…
{"title":"Commentary: Tone languages and laryngeal precision","authors":"D. Ladd","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZV014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZV014","url":null,"abstract":"In this response I make three distinct points. First and most important, I identify a logical premise of Everett et al.’s (2016) explanation for the correlation between humidity and complex tone, and briefly present empirical evidence that the premise is questionable. Second (and ultimately equally important), I point out that their definition of ‘complex tone’ is equivocal between two quite distinct senses. Third, I offer a speculative alternative approach to explaining the correlation. Everett et al. emphasize that they have formulated a hypothesis and tested it empirically. That is, they predict on independent grounds that tone languages should be more common where humidity is high, and then provide evidence that this prediction is valid. The logic of their prediction is as follows: They provide plenty of evidence for the first premise, and (lacking relevant specialist knowledge in statistics) I am willing to accept their demonstration of the geographical correlation that supports the conclusion. However, there is good reason to doubt the second premise. Over the course of many years, I have conducted studies in which speakers read prepared sentences under studio conditions. These studies have generally aimed to test the effect of specific structural manipulations on fundamental frequency (F0) at specific points in the utterance. For example, in one such experiment (Ladd 1988), I compared English sentences of the form A and B but C and A but B and C (where A, B , and C are short clauses), looking for (and finding) F0 differences on the accented syllables of the clauses depending on the structure. A consistent finding in all these studies is that, for any given speaker, mean F0 …","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"1 1","pages":"70-72"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZV014","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61533725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this commentary, we address some general questions regarding the use of statistical methods for the purposes of correlating linguistic with nonlinguistic features, as well as engage some specific claims in the position article by Everett et al. (2016). In the process, we attempt to arrive at possible causes for misunderstandings among researchers coming from different disciplines. This short piece is not meant to be a thorough review of the article, but simply to focus on those areas where we can provide some productive feedback. First, we do believe that it is an empirical question whether or not certain linguistic features are influenced by external forces, and one should indeed pursue such research questions using statistical methods. As pointed out by Ladd et al. (2015), correlational studies of this kind can help one choose among competing hypotheses. While it is true that finding a correlation does not necessarily establish causation, it is also true that having discovered a correlation is better than having none. In addition, understanding how human language evolved will require such approaches. Perhaps part of the reason why some linguists seem skeptical about the findings of this kind has to do with what we can call a problem of proportion. Isolated studies like this, without being embedded in a comprehensive framework, may suggest to the reader, even when this is not claimed by the author(s), that a linguistic phenomenon can be completely reduced to a nonlinguistic factor. What would help would be to embed these findings into a larger, more comprehensive framework about change in phonological systems, as well as how these systems evolve. Against the background of such a comprehensive framework, one can then try to determine how much of a role is played by climate as opposed to other factors, such as language-internal …
在这篇评论中，我们解决了一些关于使用统计方法将语言与非语言特征联系起来的一般性问题，以及Everett等人(2016)在立场文章中提出的一些具体主张。在这个过程中，我们试图找出不同学科的研究者之间产生误解的可能原因。这篇短文并不是对这篇文章的全面回顾，而是简单地关注那些我们可以提供一些有效反馈的领域。首先，我们确实认为，某些语言特征是否受到外力的影响是一个实证问题，我们确实应该用统计方法来追求这样的研究问题。正如Ladd et al.(2015)所指出的，这种相关研究可以帮助人们在相互竞争的假设中进行选择。虽然发现相关性并不一定能建立因果关系，但发现相关性总比没有强。此外，理解人类语言是如何进化的也需要这样的方法。也许一些语言学家对这类发现持怀疑态度的部分原因与我们所说的比例问题有关。像这样的孤立研究，没有嵌入到一个全面的框架中，可能会向读者暗示，即使作者没有声称这一点，语言现象可以完全归结为非语言因素。将这些发现嵌入到一个更大、更全面的关于语音系统变化的框架中，以及这些系统是如何进化的，将会有所帮助。在这样一个全面框架的背景下，人们可以尝试确定气候在其中扮演了多大的角色，而不是其他因素，如语言、内部……
{"title":"Commentary: Beyond tone and climate: broadening the framework","authors":"Ljiljana Progovac, M. Ratliff","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZV006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZV006","url":null,"abstract":"In this commentary, we address some general questions regarding the use of statistical methods for the purposes of correlating linguistic with nonlinguistic features, as well as engage some specific claims in the position article by Everett et al. (2016). In the process, we attempt to arrive at possible causes for misunderstandings among researchers coming from different disciplines. This short piece is not meant to be a thorough review of the article, but simply to focus on those areas where we can provide some productive feedback. First, we do believe that it is an empirical question whether or not certain linguistic features are influenced by external forces, and one should indeed pursue such research questions using statistical methods. As pointed out by Ladd et al. (2015), correlational studies of this kind can help one choose among competing hypotheses. While it is true that finding a correlation does not necessarily establish causation, it is also true that having discovered a correlation is better than having none. In addition, understanding how human language evolved will require such approaches. Perhaps part of the reason why some linguists seem skeptical about the findings of this kind has to do with what we can call a problem of proportion. Isolated studies like this, without being embedded in a comprehensive framework, may suggest to the reader, even when this is not claimed by the author(s), that a linguistic phenomenon can be completely reduced to a nonlinguistic factor. What would help would be to embed these findings into a larger, more comprehensive framework about change in phonological systems, as well as how these systems evolve. Against the background of such a comprehensive framework, one can then try to determine how much of a role is played by climate as opposed to other factors, such as language-internal …","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"117 1","pages":"77-79"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZV006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61532957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Does (the presence or complexity of) tone inversely correlate with dryness of climate? The authors (Everett et al.) suggest that the absence of ambient humidity in the air negatively correlates with the presence of (complex?) lexical tone, partly because of the effect that dry air has to increase the difficulty in achieving precise articulatory targets. There are two main problems with the argumentation used. 1. Conflating ‘tone’ with ‘pitch’ or ‘fundamental frequency’, and mistaking ‘complexity’ with a syllable domain for tone assignment; 2. conflating ‘dry climate’ with the absence of humidity. The authors are not guilty in an absolute sense of these problems, acknowledging that there are complications. Their reliance on pitch contrasts as a proxy for tonal category contrasts, and the use of air humidity rather than (easily available) climate information for the ranges of different languages means that the authors are dealing with ephemeral correlations between proxy features. In the next two sections, I will critique the use of tone primarily to refer to distinctions realised by pitch, and the use of humidity as a powerful explanatory for the existence of tone categories. The authors acknowledge that ‘many non-pitch phenomena are associated with the production of tone, including ancillary laryngealization and duration influences’, but go on to claim that ‘the heightened role of F0 (and therefore pitch) in languages with complex tone is evident in the fact that its fine-grained modulation is required on every or almost every syllable, in contrast to pitch accent languages’. First, this …
音调(的存在或复杂性)是否与气候的干燥成反比?作者(Everett et al.)认为，空气中缺乏环境湿度与(复杂?)词汇语调的存在呈负相关，部分原因是干燥的空气增加了实现精确发音目标的难度。使用的论证有两个主要问题。1. 1 .将“tone”与“pitch”或“basic frequency”混淆，并将“complexity”与音节域混淆为声调分配;将“干燥气候”与缺乏湿度混为一谈。从绝对意义上说，作者对这些问题并不感到内疚，他们承认存在一些复杂性。他们依赖音高对比作为音调类别对比的代表，并且使用空气湿度而不是(容易获得的)气候信息来代表不同语言的范围，这意味着作者正在处理代理特征之间的短暂相关性。在接下来的两节中，我将批评使用音调主要是指通过音高实现的区别，以及使用湿度作为音调类别存在的有力解释。作者承认“许多非音高现象与音调的产生有关，包括辅助性喉音和持续时间的影响”，但接着声称“在具有复杂音调的语言中，F0(因此音调)的作用增强，这一事实很明显，与音调重音语言相比，F0在每个或几乎每个音节上都需要精细的调制”。首先，这个……
{"title":"Commentary: Culture mediates the effects of humidity on language","authors":"Mark Donohue","doi":"10.1093/JOLE/LZV009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/JOLE/LZV009","url":null,"abstract":"Does (the presence or complexity of) tone inversely correlate with dryness of climate? The authors (Everett et al.) suggest that the absence of ambient humidity in the air negatively correlates with the presence of (complex?) lexical tone, partly because of the effect that dry air has to increase the difficulty in achieving precise articulatory targets. There are two main problems with the argumentation used. 1. Conflating ‘tone’ with ‘pitch’ or ‘fundamental frequency’, and mistaking ‘complexity’ with a syllable domain for tone assignment; 2. conflating ‘dry climate’ with the absence of humidity. The authors are not guilty in an absolute sense of these problems, acknowledging that there are complications. Their reliance on pitch contrasts as a proxy for tonal category contrasts, and the use of air humidity rather than (easily available) climate information for the ranges of different languages means that the authors are dealing with ephemeral correlations between proxy features. In the next two sections, I will critique the use of tone primarily to refer to distinctions realised by pitch, and the use of humidity as a powerful explanatory for the existence of tone categories. The authors acknowledge that ‘many non-pitch phenomena are associated with the production of tone, including ancillary laryngealization and duration influences’, but go on to claim that ‘the heightened role of F0 (and therefore pitch) in languages with complex tone is evident in the fact that its fine-grained modulation is required on every or almost every syllable, in contrast to pitch accent languages’. First, this …","PeriodicalId":37118,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Language Evolution","volume":"67 1","pages":"57-60"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1093/JOLE/LZV009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"61533440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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