DOCSLIB.ORG

Evolutionary Linguistics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Evolutionary Linguistics ANRV355-AN37-13 ARI 14 August 2008 11:11 ANNUAL Evolutionary Linguistics REVIEWS Further Click here for quick links to Annual Reviews content online, William Croft including: Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131; • Other articles in this volume email: [email protected] • Top cited articles • Top downloaded articles • Our comprehensive search by 142.177.59.32 on 06/04/09. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2008. 37:219–34 Key Words First published online as a Review in Advance on replicator, selection, phylogeny, comparative method June 17, 2008 Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2008.37:219-234. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org The Annual Review of Anthropology is online at Abstract anthro.annualreviews.org Both qualitative concepts and quantitative methods from evolutionary This article’s doi: biology have been applied to linguistics. Many linguists have noted the 10.1146/annurev.anthro.37.081407.085156 similarity between biological evolution and language change, but usually Copyright c 2008 by Annual Reviews. have employed only selective analogies or metaphors. The development All rights reserved of generalized theories of evolutionary change (Dawkins and Hull) has 0084-6570/08/1021-0219$20.00 spawned models of language change on the basis of such generalized theories. These models have led to the positing of new mechanisms of language change and new types of selection that may not have biolog- ical parallels. Quantitative methods have been applied to questions of language phylogeny in the past decade. Research has focused on widely accepted families with cognates already established by the comparative method (Indo-European, Bantu, Austronesian). Increasingly sophisti- cated phylogeny reconstruction models have been applied to these fam- ilies to resolve questions of subgrouping, contact, and migration. Little progress has been made so far in analyzing sound correspondences in the cognates themselves. 219 ANRV355-AN37-13 ARI 14 August 2008 11:11 INTRODUCTION and language change) but do not imply an over- arching generalized theory. Evolutionary models have come to be employed An isolated analogy from evolutionary biol- Phylogeny: a graph in several areas of the study of language in ogy that has proven to be useful in explaining structure, usually a the past two decades. The use of evolutionary language change is Lass’s application of exap- tree, representing the models is naturally found in historical linguis- evolutionary history of tation to historical linguistic phenomena (Lass tics and also in the study of the origins of lan- a set of individuals 1990). Exaptation in biology is the employment guage. In the latter case, however, the employ- (organisms, species, of a phylogenetic trait for a function different languages) ment of evolutionary models is handicapped from the one for which it was originally adapted; by the absence of data regarding the transition Selection: the process Lass slightly changes the definition to apply to by which the from our primate ancestors to the emergence of linguistic structures that have lost their func- interaction of the modern human language, which is found in all tion but have come to be employed for another interactor with its societies. All that we can go by is the archaeo- environment causes function. logical record and the comparison of the social- differential replication A recent example of the employment of a cognitive abilities and communication systems of the relevant biological metaphor is Blevins’s theory of evo- replicators of humans and other animals, particularly lutionary phonology (Blevins 2004). Evolution- nonhuman primates. Because the study of the ary phonology proposes to account for syn- origin of human language does not depend on chronic phonological patterns as the result of linguistic data, it is not discussed in this article. phonetically motivated changes in the transmis- Even so, the area under review is vast and sion of sound systems from adult to child over growing, and therefore this review is restricted time. It uses the notions of inheritance (via the to research in which qualitative concepts and child learning the adults’ language), variation quantitative methods from evolutionary bi- generated by “errors” in replication (mecha- ology have been applied to the analysis of nisms by which the listener alters what he hears language, in particular language change and from the speaker), and natural selection (cer- language phylogeny. by 142.177.59.32 on 06/04/09. For personal use only. tain sound changes are more/less likely in par- ticular phonetic contexts). However, because of EVOLUTIONARY THEORY disanalogies between biological evolution and AND THEORIES OF language change, Blevins explicitly rejects an LANGUAGE CHANGE evolutionary approach to sound change that is Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2008.37:219-234. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org In historical linguistics, the parallels between more than metaphorical. biological and linguistic evolution have been Although analogies or metaphors between observed since Darwin himself first took notice biological evolution and language change can (for a historical survey, see Atkinson & Gray be fruitful, one does not know which parallels 2005). However, the differences in the domains between the two domains are legitimate to draw of biology and language appear to have out- and which are not, or even more important, weighed the similarities, and Darwinian evo- which parallel structures must be present for lutionary theory has developed over time. In the analogy/metaphor to make sense. In partic- the meantime, the advent of structuralism and ular, it is common to assume that the mech- generative grammar has led to the dominance anisms that cause variation and selection in of an ahistorical approach to the study of biological evolution must be the same in other language (Croft 2002). As a consequence, lin- domains such as language change, yet the mech- guistics has rarely used models from evolution- anisms are domain specific. What is required ary biology. Nevertheless, the similarities be- is a generalized theory of evolutionary change tween the two have led historical linguists to that subsumes biological evolution, language employ evolutionary analogies or metaphors. change, and other phenomena of evolutionary Analogies/metaphors indicate similarities be- change such as cultural evolution. Researchers tween the two domains (biological evolution have derived models of cultural evolution from 220 Croft ANRV355-AN37-13 ARI 14 August 2008 11:11 biological evolution (Boyd & Richerson 1985, ties. Hence concepts are replicators and minds Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman 1981, Durham 1991, or brains of individuals are vehicles. Memeti- Richerson & Boyd 2005). But the generalized cists generally use a parasite-host model for the Replicator: an entity theories of evolutionary change that have at- relationship between memes/concepts and the that is copied and tracted the most attention in historical linguis- mind or brain of the possessor: Memes are para- preserves most of its tics are those developed by Dawkins (1989, sites that use the brain (the host) as their vehicle structure in copying 1982) and Hull (1988, 2001). for replication. Meme: a cultural The most crucial feature of a generalized The most extended analysis of language replicator theory of evolutionary change is that evolution- change in Dawkinsian memetic terms is by Ritt Interactor: an entity ary change is change by replication, a process (2004). Ritt, a historical phonologist, focuses on that interacts with its by which some entity is copied in such a way phonological change. Following Dawkins, lin- environment in such a that most or all of the structure of the replicate guistic memes are concepts in the mind; specif- way as to cause differential replication is the same as that of the original. The replica- ically, they are some type of replicable brain of the relevant tion process is cumulative and iterative, lead- structure. Ritt argues that phonemes, mor- replicators ing to lineages. Second, evolutionary change phemes, phonotactic patterns, metrical feet, is a two-step process: the generation of varia- and phonological rules, or more precisely tion in the replication process, and the selection their conceptual representations, are memes. of variants via some mechanism. Dawkins’ and However, linguistic signs (form-meaning pair- Hull’s models have these properties, as do the ings) are not replicators because, in Ritt’s view, models of cultural evolution mentioned above. they do not preserve enough structure in repli- In the context of language change, Lass notes cation. Instead, signs are the result of an alliance that these properties are necessary to under- of replicators. stand languages as historical entities (Lass 1997, In the Dawkinsian model, the linguistic be- pp. 109–11), although he does not develop a de- havior that a speaker produces on the basis of tailed theory of language change on this basis her conceptual memes exists for the purpose by 142.177.59.32 on 06/04/09. For personal use only. (see also Nettle 1999, Wedel 2006). Evolution- of replicating the memes, not for communi- ary theory also rejects any notion of progress. cation (Ritt 2004, p. 231); this is the selfish Dawkins’ and Hull’s models are related but gene/meme theory. The replicators are repli- differ in important respects. Dawkins gener- cated across speakers by an imitation process alizes the concept of a gene as a replicator.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Memetic Framework for Cooperative Coevolution of Recurrent Neural Networks
    Proceedings of International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, San Jose, California, USA, July 31 – August 5, 2011 A Memetic Framework for Cooperative Coevolution of Recurrent Neural Networks Rohitash Chandra, Marcus Frean and Mengjie Zhang Abstract— Memetic algorithms and cooperative coevolution refinement techniques has been a major focus of study in are emerging fields in evolutionary computation which have memetic computation. There is a need to use non-gradient shown to be powerful tools for real-world application problems based local search, especially in problems where gradient- and for training neural networks. Cooperative coevolution decomposes a problem into subcomponents that evolve inde- based approaches fail, as in the case of training recurrent net- pendently. Memetic algorithms provides further enhancement works in problems with long-term dependencies. Crossover- to evolutionary algorithms with local refinement. The use based local search methods are non-gradient based and have of crossover-based local refinement has gained attention in recently gained attention [8], [9]. In crossover based local memetic computing. This paper employs a cooperative coevo- search, efficient crossover operators which have local search lutionary framework that utilises the strength of local refine- ment via crossover. The framework is evaluated by training properties are used for local refinement with a population recurrent neural networks on grammatical inference problems. of a few individuals. They have shown promising results in The results show that the proposed approach can achieve comparison to other evolutionary approaches for problems better performance than the standard cooperative coevolution with high dimensions [9]. framework. Cooperative coevolution (CC) divides a large problem into smaller subcomponents and solves them independently I.
    [Show full text]
  • Swapping Tools Between Linguistics and Evolutionary Biology
    Biol Philos DOI 10.1007/s10539-017-9594-y Curiously the same: swapping tools between linguistics and evolutionary biology Lindell Bromham1 Received: 22 March 2017 / Accepted: 13 September 2017 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017 Abstract One of the major benefits of interdisciplinary research is the chance to swap tools between fields, to save having to reinvent the wheel. The fields of language evolution and evolutionary biology have been swapping tools for centuries to the enrichment of both. Here I will discuss three categories of tool swapping: (1) conceptual tools, where analogies are drawn between hypotheses, patterns or pro- cesses, so that one field can take advantage of the path cut through the intellectual jungle by the other; (2) theoretical tools, where the machinery developed to process the data in one field is adapted to be applied to the data of the other; and (3) analytical tools, where common problems encountered in both fields can be solved using useful tricks developed by one or the other. I will argue that conceptual tools borrowed from linguistics contributed to the Darwinian revolution in biology; that theoretical tools of evolutionary change can in some cases be applied to both genetic and linguistic data without having to assume the underlying evolutionary processes are exactly the same; and that there are practical problems that have long been recognised in historical linguistics that may be solved by borrowing some useful analytical tools from evolutionary biology. Keywords Language evolution Á Historical linguistics Á Biological evolution Á Darwinism Á Galton’s problem Á Phylogenetic non-independence Á Spatial autocorrelation Á Interdisciplinary The formation of different languages and of distinct species, and the proofs that both have been developed through a gradual process, are curiously the same.
    [Show full text]
  • Biol B242 - Coevolution
    BIOL B242 - COEVOLUTION http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbhdjm/courses/b242/Coevol/Coevol.html BIOL B242 - COEVOLUTION So far ... In this course we have mainly discussed evolution within species, and evolution leading to speciation. Evolution by natural selection is caused by the interaction of populations/species with their environments. Today ... However, the environment of a species is always partly biotic. This brings up the possiblity that the "environment" itself may be evolving. Two or more species may in fact coevolve. And coevolution gives rise to some of the most interesting phenomena in nature. What is coevolution? At its most basic, coevolution is defined as evolution in two or more evolutionary entities brought about by reciprocal selective effects between the entities. The term was invented by Paul Ehrlich and Peter Raven in 1964 in a famous article: "Butterflies and plants: a study in coevolution", in which they showed how genera and families of butterflies depended for food on particular phylogenetic groupings of plants. We have already discussed some coevolutionary phenomena: For example, sex and recombination may have evolved because of a coevolutionary arms race between organisms and their parasites; the rate of evolution, and the likelihood of producing resistance to infection (in the hosts) and virulence (in the parasites) is enhanced by sex. We have also discussed sexual selection as a coevolutionary phenomenon between female choice and male secondary sexual traits. In this case, the coevolution is within a single species, but it is a kind of coevolution nonetheless. One of our problem sets involved frequency dependent selection between two types of players in an evolutionary "game".
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Generated By
    The Evolution of Language: Towards Gestural Hypotheses DIS/CONTINUITIES TORUŃ STUDIES IN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE Edited by Mirosława Buchholtz Advisory Board Leszek Berezowski (Wrocław University) Annick Duperray (University of Provence) Dorota Guttfeld (Nicolaus Copernicus University) Grzegorz Koneczniak (Nicolaus Copernicus University) Piotr Skrzypczak (Nicolaus Copernicus University) Jordan Zlatev (Lund University) Vol. 20 DIS/CONTINUITIES Przemysław ywiczy ski / Sławomir Wacewicz TORUŃ STUDIES IN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND CULTURE Ż ń Edited by Mirosława Buchholtz Advisory Board Leszek Berezowski (Wrocław University) Annick Duperray (University of Provence) Dorota Guttfeld (Nicolaus Copernicus University) Grzegorz Koneczniak (Nicolaus Copernicus University) The Evolution of Language: Piotr Skrzypczak (Nicolaus Copernicus University) Jordan Zlatev (Lund University) Towards Gestural Hypotheses Vol. 20 Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. The translation, publication and editing of this book was financed by a grant from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland within the programme Uniwersalia 2.1 (ID: 347247, Reg. no. 21H 16 0049 84) as a part of the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Ministry cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Translators: Marek Placi ski, Monika Boruta Supervision and proofreading: John Kearns Cover illustration: © ńMateusz Pawlik Printed by CPI books GmbH, Leck ISSN 2193-4207 ISBN 978-3-631-79022-9 (Print) E-ISBN 978-3-631-79393-0 (E-PDF) E-ISBN 978-3-631-79394-7 (EPUB) E-ISBN 978-3-631-79395-4 (MOBI) DOI 10.3726/b15805 Open Access: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 unported license.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience Cognitive Neuroscience Michael S
    MD DALIM #870693 9/24/06 GREEN PURPLE Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience Cognitive Neuroscience Michael S. Gazzaniga, editor Gary Lynch, Synapses, Circuits, and the Beginning of Memory Barry E. Stein and M. Alex Meredith, The Merging of the Senses Richard B. Ivry and Lynn C. Robertson, The Two Sides of Perception Steven J. Luck, An Introduction to the Event-Related Potential Technique Roberto Cabeza and Alan Kingstone, eds., Handbook of Functional Neuroimaging of Cognition Carl Senior, Tamara Russell, and Michael S. Gazzaniga, eds., Methods in Mind Steven M. Platek, Julian Paul Keenan, and Todd K. Shackelford, eds., Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience Edited by Steven M. Platek, Julian Paul Keenan, and Todd K. Shackelford The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or informa- tion storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, please email special_sales@mitpress. mit.edu or write to Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. This book printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Evolutionary cognitive neuroscience / edited by Steven M. Platek, Julian Paul Keenan, and Todd K. Shackelford. p. cm.—(Cognitive neuroscience) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 13: 978-0-262-16241-8 ISBN 10: 0-262-16241-5 1. Cognitive neuroscience. 2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Coevolution Theory of Autumn Colours Marco Archetti1* and Sam P
    Received 3 December 2003 FirstCite Accepted 25 February 2004 e-publishing Published online The coevolution theory of autumn colours Marco Archetti1* and Sam P. Brown2 1De´partement de Biologie, Section E´ cologie et E´ volution, Universite´ de Fribourg, Chemin du Muse´e 10, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland 2Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK According to the coevolution theory of autumn colours, the bright colours of leaves in autumn are a warning signal to insects that lay their eggs on the trees in that season. If the colour is linked to the level of defensive commitment of the tree and the insects learn to avoid bright colours, this may lead to a coevolutionary process in which bright trees reduce their parasite load and choosy insects locate the most profitable hosts for the winter. We try to clarify what the theory actually says and to correct some misun- derstandings that have been put forward. We also review current research on autumn colours and discuss what needs to be done to test the theory. Keywords: autumn colours; coevolution; biological signalling; trees; evolution 1. INTRODUCTION that is also variable. Leaf abscission and senescence may be preadaptations to the phenomenon of autumn colours, Why do leaves change their colour in autumn? Bright aut- but they are by no means the same thing. umn colours occur in many deciduous tree species and The second is that bright colours are not just the effect are well known to everybody. However, an evolutionary of the degradation of chlorophyll, but new pigments are explanation to this question has only recently been put actively produced in autumn (Duggelin et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Systems Theorizing Based on Evolutionary Psychology: an Interdisciplinary Review and Theory Integration Framework1
    Kock/IS Theorizing Based on Evolutionary Psychology THEORY AND REVIEW INFORMATION SYSTEMS THEORIZING BASED ON EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEW AND THEORY INTEGRATION FRAMEWORK1 By: Ned Kock on one evolutionary information systems theory—media Division of International Business and Technology naturalness theory—previously developed as an alternative to Studies media richness theory, and one non-evolutionary information Texas A&M International University systems theory, channel expansion theory. 5201 University Boulevard Laredo, TX 78041 Keywords: Information systems, evolutionary psychology, U.S.A. theory development, media richness theory, media naturalness [email protected] theory, channel expansion theory Abstract Introduction Evolutionary psychology holds great promise as one of the possible pillars on which information systems theorizing can While information systems as a distinct area of research has take place. Arguably, evolutionary psychology can provide the potential to be a reference for other disciplines, it is the key to many counterintuitive predictions of behavior reasonable to argue that information systems theorizing can toward technology, because many of the evolved instincts that benefit from fresh new insights from other fields of inquiry, influence our behavior are below our level of conscious which may in turn enhance even more the reference potential awareness; often those instincts lead to behavioral responses of information systems (Baskerville and Myers 2002). After that are not self-evident. This paper provides a discussion of all, to be influential in other disciplines, information systems information systems theorizing based on evolutionary psych- research should address problems that are perceived as rele- ology, centered on key human evolution and evolutionary vant by scholars in those disciplines and in ways that are genetics concepts and notions.
    [Show full text]
  • Insufficient Emotion: Soul-Searching by a Former Indicter of Strong
    Emotion Review Vol. 2, No. 3 (July 2010) 234–239 © 2010 SAGE Publications and The International Society for Research on Emotion Insufficient Emotion: Soul-searching by a Former ISSN 1754-0739 DOI: 10.1177/1754073910362598 Indicter of Strong Emotions er.sagepub.com George Loewenstein Department of Social & Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Abstract Contrary to the many accounts of the destructive effects of strong emotions, this article argues that the most serious problems facing the world are caused by a deficiency rather than an excess of emotions. It then shows how an evolutionary account of emotion can explain when and why such deficiencies occur. Keywords decision making, emotion At that moment I was fully aware for the first time how far advanced the researchers have argued that these types of emotions are benefi- process of paralysis already was in me – it was if I were moving through cial, based on the finding that their absence, whether due to brain flowing, bright water without being halted or taking root anywhere, and I damage (Damasio, 1994) or experimental intervention (e.g., knew very well that this chill was something dead and corpse-like, not yet Wilson & Schooler, 1991) tends to degrade the quality of decision surrounded by the foul breath of decomposition but already numbed beyond recover, a grimly cold lack of emotions. making. Representing a similar perspective, there are myriad (Stefan Zweig, 1922 / 2004, p. 19) stories, presented in books such as The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence (De Becker, 1997), of Do emotions help or hurt decision making? This question has people who report having survived against the odds as a result of been the focus of much implicit and explicit debate.
    [Show full text]
  • Oxytocin Is a Nonapeptide Involved in a Wide Range of Physiologic OXT Activity Depends on Adequate Interaction with Its Unique and Behavioral Functions
    Evolutionary pattern in the OXT-OXTR system in primates: Coevolution and positive selection footprints Pedro Vargas-Pinillaa,1, Vanessa Rodrigues Paixão-Côrtesa,1, Pamela Paréa, Luciana Tovo-Rodriguesa, Carlos Meton de Alencar Gadelha Vieiraa, Agatha Xaviera, David Comasb, Alcides Pissinattic, Marialva Sinigagliaa, Maurício Menegatti Rigoa, Gustavo Fioravanti Vieiraa, Aldo B. Luciond, Francisco Mauro Salzanoa,2, and Maria Cátira Bortolinia,2 aDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; bInstitut de Biologia Evolutiva, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; cCentro de Primatologia do Rio de Janeiro, 20940-200 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; and dDepartamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 90050-170 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil Contributed by Francisco Mauro Salzano, November 26, 2014 (sent for review July 11, 2014; reviewed by Guido Barbujani and Rafal Slusarz) Oxytocin is a nonapeptide involved in a wide range of physiologic OXT activity depends on adequate interaction with its unique and behavioral functions. Until recently, it was believed that an receptor, OXTR, although it can also bind to the vasopressin unmodified oxytocin sequence was present in all placental mam- receptors (AVPR1a, AVPR1b, and AVPR2) with lower affinity mals. This study analyzed oxytocin (OXT) in 29 primate species and (11–13). Similar to other receptors that use G proteins as OXTR the oxytocin receptor ( ) in 21 of these species. We report transducer signals across the cell membranes, OXTR is com- here three novel OXT forms in the New World monkeys, as well posed of seven transmembrane (TM1–TM7), four extracellular as a more extensive distribution of a previously described variant (N-terminal tail-ECL3), and four intracellular (ICL1-C-terminal (Leu8Pro).
    [Show full text]
  • 8. Primate Evolution
    8. Primate Evolution Jonathan M. G. Perry, Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Stephanie L. Canington, B.A., The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Learning Objectives • Understand the major trends in primate evolution from the origin of primates to the origin of our own species • Learn about primate adaptations and how they characterize major primate groups • Discuss the kinds of evidence that anthropologists use to find out how extinct primates are related to each other and to living primates • Recognize how the changing geography and climate of Earth have influenced where and when primates have thrived or gone extinct The first fifty million years of primate evolution was a series of adaptive radiations leading to the diversification of the earliest lemurs, monkeys, and apes. The primate story begins in the canopy and understory of conifer-dominated forests, with our small, furtive ancestors subsisting at night, beneath the notice of day-active dinosaurs. From the archaic plesiadapiforms (archaic primates) to the earliest groups of true primates (euprimates), the origin of our own order is characterized by the struggle for new food sources and microhabitats in the arboreal setting. Climate change forced major extinctions as the northern continents became increasingly dry, cold, and seasonal and as tropical rainforests gave way to deciduous forests, woodlands, and eventually grasslands. Lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers—once diverse groups containing many species—became rare, except for lemurs in Madagascar where there were no anthropoid competitors and perhaps few predators. Meanwhile, anthropoids (monkeys and apes) emerged in the Old World, then dispersed across parts of the northern hemisphere, Africa, and ultimately South America.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolutionary Linguistics and Historical Language Studies
    Evolutionary linguistics and historical language studies (Melanie Malzahn and Nikolaus Ritt) 1. Rationale (Agenda, research questions and relevance to evolutionary linguistics) The workshop is intended to foster dialogue between practitioners in the field of historical language studies and practitioners of evolutionary linguistics. Its agenda is motivated by the fact that the two fields of linguistic research have, during the last decades come to diverge in terms of focus and methods almost to the extent of being constructed – quite explicitly so, for example, in McMahon & McMahon’s recent Introduction to Evolutionary Linguistics (2012) - as entirely different academic disciplines. This development is not entirely felicitous as there are many obvious overlaps and connecting points between the historical and the evolutionary linguistic research programmes. Thus, both historical and evolutionary linguists deal with systems that maintain and/or change their properties in processes involving the transmission of constituents, the emergence of variation, and the selection of some variants over others. (cf. e.g. Croft 2000, or Lass 1997) Historical linguists focus on the (mentally or behaviourally instantiated) properties of specific human languages that are passed on through communication and language acquisition. Evolutionary linguists focus both on the biologically (i.e. genetically and physiologically) instantiated properties of the human language faculty that are transmitted genetically and expressed in development, and/or on typical design
    [Show full text]
  • Biological and Biomedical Implications of the Co-Evolution of Pathogens and Their Hosts
    progress Biological and biomedical implications of the co-evolution of pathogens and their hosts Mark E.J. Woolhouse1, Joanne P. Webster2, Esteban Domingo3, Brian Charlesworth4 & Bruce R. Levin5 Co-evolution between host and pathogen is, in principle, a powerful determinant of the biology and genetics of infection and disease. Yet co-evolution has proven difficult to demonstrate rigorously in practice, and co-evolutionary thinking is only just beginning to inform medical or veterinary research in any meaningful way, even though it can have a major influence on how genetic variation in biomedically important traits is interpreted. Improving our understanding of the biomedical significance of co-evo- lution will require changing the way in which we look for it, complementing the phenomenological approach traditionally favored by evolutionary biologists with the exploitation of the extensive data becoming available on the molecular biology and molecular genetics of host–pathogen interactions. http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics That pathogens and hosts have evolutionary effects on one In this review, we assess the evidence for co-evolution in another and that these effects might be reciprocal—that is, host–pathogen systems. We then explore the complexities of pathogens and hosts co-evolve—are attractive, plausible and studying co-evolution in the ‘real world’, where there are many powerful ideas whose implications for the medical and veteri- different constraints on the potential for pathogen and host to nary sciences are only just beginning to be recognized1. An co-evolve. We proceed to consider the largely untapped oppor- important instance concerns the genetics of susceptibility to and tunity for studying co-evolution at the mechanistic as well as pathogenicity of infectious diseases.
    [Show full text]