Exploring Language Change

Jones, Mari C.; Singh, Ishtla

doi:10.4324/9781315017006

Cited by 20 publications

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“…is theoretically distinct from 'population drift' (that is, the social or geographic isolation of speaker communities 21 ). However, in practice, Sapir 20 argued that both types of drift interact: variation in individual speakers' utterances accumulate and lead to the formation of dialects and, eventually, languages.…”

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confidence: 99%

The evolution of language families is shaped by the environment beyond neutral drift

et al. 2018

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There are more than 7,000 languages spoken in the world today 1. It has been argued that the natural and social environment of languages drives this diversity 2-13. However, a fundamental question is how strong are environmental pressures, and does neutral drift suffice as a mechanism to explain diversification? We estimate the phylogenetic signals of geographic dimensions, distance to water, climate and population size on more than 6,000 phylogenetic trees of 46 language families. Phylogenetic signals of environmental factors are generally stronger than expected under the null hypothesis of no relationship with the shape of family trees. Importantly, they are also-in most cases-not compatible with neutral drift models of constant-rate change across the family tree branches. Our results suggest that language diversification is driven by further adaptive and non-adaptive pressures. Language diversity cannot be understood without modelling the pressures that physical, ecological and social factors exert on language users in different environments across the globe. Present-day linguistic diversity is non-randomly distributed across the globe, forming patterns at multiple levels. For example, more than 7,000 languages are currently spoken, and these can be classified into a few hundred language families 1. Each family contains (ideally) all-and only-descendants of a single ancestral protolanguage. Given that languages evolve through time in a manner similar to the evolution of biological species-through splits, extinctions and horizontal exchange-a language family can be approximated by a structured family tree (or phylogeny) that comprises a set of languages spoken by actual human groups occupying geographical space. An intriguing observation is that not only individual languages are non-randomly distributed across the globe; language families are too: some families are huge, spanning vast areas, while others are much more circumscribed. It has been proposed that this patterning reflects ancestral historical events and processes, such as demographic migrations and spreads, or language shift through elite dominance 14. Additionally, there is an emerging view that language diversification cannot be fully understood except in the wider context of physical, cultural and biological variation 15-17. A fundamental question, then, is why and how do language family trees unfold? Is linguistic diversification a self-contained process, or do pressures related to geographic and demographic dimensions drive diversification and shape language family trees? The classic view holds that explanations of diversity have to be sought 'first on the basis of recognized processes of internal change' 18. Here, 'internal' changes are either seen as a 'rather directionless pursuit of individual forms down the branches of the family tree' 19 or as regular phenomena such as sound change and analogy 19. Internal changes are often associated with the term 'linguistic drift' 20 , which

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confidence: 99%

The evolution of language families is shaped by the environment beyond neutral drift

et al. 2018

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“…There is no doubt about the vital role of examinations in determining language policy and planning as they introduce ways of reforming syllabuses, existing teaching methods etc. The definitions and aims of language planning have been the subject of much debate [11]. Fasold [12] observes that the term implies that certain choices will be made about language behaviour.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of English and Information Technology Skills of New Entrants to Sri Lankan Universities

Wikramanayake¹,

Karunartna²,

Wettewe³

2012

IJIET

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This study presents our experiences in designing, implementing and deploying an on-line evaluation scheme to measure the English and information technology skills of new entrants to Sri Lankan universities at point of entry in 2011. Over 15,000 students from 25 districts of the country were subjected to the on-line evaluation. The test was conducted by using a learning management system, in 24 consecutive days in twenty six centres scattered across the country. This paper sums up the experiences we gathered in conducting the evaluation of a larger group of students spread across a wide geographical area and the lessons learned.

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“…The first is economic: the development of mining industries in West Cornwall during the early 17 th century, with the accompanying influx of English speakers, is likely to have precipitated language-shift and hastened the demise of the language (see Jones and Singh 2005: 137, on which this discussion draws). The first is economic: the development of mining industries in West Cornwall during the early 17 th century, with the accompanying influx of English speakers, is likely to have precipitated language-shift and hastened the demise of the language (see Jones and Singh 2005: 137, on which this discussion draws).…”

Section: The History Of Cornishmentioning

confidence: 99%

2 Biblical Register and a Counsel of Despair: two Late Cornish versions of Genesis 1

Williams¹

2013

Scribes as Agents of Language Change

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Exploring Language Change

Cited by 20 publications

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The evolution of language families is shaped by the environment beyond neutral drift

The evolution of language families is shaped by the environment beyond neutral drift

Evaluation of English and Information Technology Skills of New Entrants to Sri Lankan Universities

2 Biblical Register and a Counsel of Despair: two Late Cornish versions of Genesis 1

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