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Language evolution happens in large punctuational bursts as languages emerge, possibly due to people creating exaggerated differences as a way of defining social groups.
Simon Greenhill, a PhD student at The University of Auckland, has collected data from languages in the Pacific region. By studying the evolution of Pacific, European and African languages, along with colleagues based at the University of Reading in the UK, it was discovered that up to a third of vocabulary differences between languages occur at language splitting events - when an existing language splits to form two new languages. In between these splitting events languages change much more slowly.
The research is published in the 1 February 2008 issue of the prestigious journal Science.
"It has been thought that the evolution of languages happens slowly and gradually over time," says Mr Greenhill of the Department of Psychology. "However, by studying a large group of languages from all over the world, it has become apparent that language evolution is ‘punctuated’, with a rapid burst of change after languages diverge. This is likely a result of people deliberately exaggerating the differences between their languages, such as using different vocabulary or pronunciation, as a way of marking their social groups and increasing group identity."
As part of his Masters and PhD research, Mr Greenhill has contributed to a collection of over 100,000 words from over 500 languages in the Pacific region. The research was conducted in collaboration with Professor Mark Pagel at the University of Reading, UK, and Dr Quentin Atkinson, a former PhD student at the University and now at the University of Oxford.
Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.
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