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3. Curating global datasets of structural linguistic features for independence.

Author

Graff, Anna, Chousou-Polydouri, Natalia, Inman, David, Skirgård, Hedvig, Lischka, Marc, Zakharko, Taras, Barbieri, Chiara, and Bickel, Balthasar

Subjects
UNIVERSAL language, LINGUISTICS, MISSING data (Statistics), HUMAN evolution, STATISTICS
Abstract

The increasing availability of cross-linguistic databases dedicated to documenting morphosyntactic, lexical and phonological features has proliferated the use of such data for studies on language evolution and human history. However, most of these databases were not designed to ensure independence of features, such that it is not valid to jointly use all their features in large-scale statistical analyses assuming independence of inputs. Here, we curate published data from five large linguistic databases to generate two global-scale cross-linguistic datasets: GBI (from the Grambank dataset), and TLI (using inputs from the World Atlas of Language Structures, AUTOTYP, PHOIBLE and Lexibank). The datasets minimize logical dependencies of features and forms of strong statistical dependencies that go beyond phylogenetic and geographical signal. They are also made available in densified form, reducing the proportion of missing data. We document our curation principles and workflows to ensure reusability of this framework with other inputs or thresholds of independence. Our curation steps on both datasets reveal robust and comparable global patterns of structural linguistic diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2025
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6. Societies of strangers do not speak less complex languages

Author

Shcherbakova, Olena, primary, Michaelis, Susanne Maria, additional, Haynie, Hannah J., additional, Passmore, Sam, additional, Gast, Volker, additional, Gray, Russell D., additional, Greenhill, Simon J., additional, Blasi, Damián E., additional, and Skirgård, Hedvig, additional

Published
2023
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7. Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss. Science Advances

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig, Haynie, Hannah J., Blasi, Damián E., Hammarström, Harald, Collins, Jeremy, Latarche, Jay J., Lesage, Jakob, Weber, Tobias, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, Passmore, Sam, Chira, Angela, Maurits, Luke, Dinnage, Russell, Dunn, Michael, Reesink, Ger, Singer, Ruth, Bowern, Claire, Epps, Patience, Hill, Jane, Vesakoski, Outi, Robbeets, Martine, Abbas, Noor Karolin, Auer, Daniel, Bakker, Nancy A., Barbos, Giulia, Borges, Robert D., Danielsen, Swintha, Dorenbusch, Luise, Dorn, Ella, Elliott, John, Falcone, Giada, Fischer, Jana, Ate, Yustinus Ghanggo, Gibson, Hannah, Gï¿œbel, Hans-Philipp, Goodall, Jemima A., Gruner, Victoria, Harvey, Andrew, Hayes, Rebekah, Heer, Leonard, Miranda, Roberto E. Herrera, Hï¿œbler, Nataliia, Huntington-Rainey, Biu, Ivani, Jessica K., Johns, Marilen, Just, Erika, Kashima, Eri, Kipf, Carolina, Klingenberg, Janina V., Kï¿œnig, Nikita, Koti, Aikaterina, Kowalik, Richard G. A., Krasnoukhova, Olga, Lindvall, Nora L. M., Lorenzen, Mandy, Lutzenberger, Hannah, Martins, Tï¿œnia R. A., German, Celia Mata, Meer, Suzanne van der, Samamï¿œ, Jaime Montoya, Mï¿œller, Michael, Muradoglu, Saliha, Neely, Kelsey, Nickel1, Johanna, Norvik, Miina, Oluoch, Cheryl Akinyi, Peacock, Jesse, Pearey, India O. C., Peck, Naomi, Petit, Stephanie, Pieper, Sï¿œren, Poblete, Mariana, Prestipino, Daniel, Raabe, Linda, Raja, Amna, Reimringer, Janis, Rey, Sydney C., Rizaew, Julia, Ruppert, Eloisa, Salmon, Kim K., Sammet, Jill, Schembri, Rhiannon, Schlabbach, Lars, Schmidt, Frederick W. P., Skilton, Amalia, Smith, Wikaliler Daniel, Sousa, Hilï¿œrio de, Sverredal, Kristin, Valle, Daniel, Vera, Javier, Voï¿œ, Judith, Witte, Tim, Wu, Henry, Yam, Stephanie, Ye, Jingting, Yong, Maisie, Yuditha, Tessa, Zariquiey, Roberto, Forkel, Robert, Evans, Nicholas, Levinson, Stephen C., Haspelmath, Martin, Greenhill1, Simon J., Atkinson, Quentin D., Gray, Russell D., Skirgård, Hedvig, Haynie, Hannah J., Blasi, Damián E., Hammarström, Harald, Collins, Jeremy, Latarche, Jay J., Lesage, Jakob, Weber, Tobias, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, Passmore, Sam, Chira, Angela, Maurits, Luke, Dinnage, Russell, Dunn, Michael, Reesink, Ger, Singer, Ruth, Bowern, Claire, Epps, Patience, Hill, Jane, Vesakoski, Outi, Robbeets, Martine, Abbas, Noor Karolin, Auer, Daniel, Bakker, Nancy A., Barbos, Giulia, Borges, Robert D., Danielsen, Swintha, Dorenbusch, Luise, Dorn, Ella, Elliott, John, Falcone, Giada, Fischer, Jana, Ate, Yustinus Ghanggo, Gibson, Hannah, Gï¿œbel, Hans-Philipp, Goodall, Jemima A., Gruner, Victoria, Harvey, Andrew, Hayes, Rebekah, Heer, Leonard, Miranda, Roberto E. Herrera, Hï¿œbler, Nataliia, Huntington-Rainey, Biu, Ivani, Jessica K., Johns, Marilen, Just, Erika, Kashima, Eri, Kipf, Carolina, Klingenberg, Janina V., Kï¿œnig, Nikita, Koti, Aikaterina, Kowalik, Richard G. A., Krasnoukhova, Olga, Lindvall, Nora L. M., Lorenzen, Mandy, Lutzenberger, Hannah, Martins, Tï¿œnia R. A., German, Celia Mata, Meer, Suzanne van der, Samamï¿œ, Jaime Montoya, Mï¿œller, Michael, Muradoglu, Saliha, Neely, Kelsey, Nickel1, Johanna, Norvik, Miina, Oluoch, Cheryl Akinyi, Peacock, Jesse, Pearey, India O. C., Peck, Naomi, Petit, Stephanie, Pieper, Sï¿œren, Poblete, Mariana, Prestipino, Daniel, Raabe, Linda, Raja, Amna, Reimringer, Janis, Rey, Sydney C., Rizaew, Julia, Ruppert, Eloisa, Salmon, Kim K., Sammet, Jill, Schembri, Rhiannon, Schlabbach, Lars, Schmidt, Frederick W. P., Skilton, Amalia, Smith, Wikaliler Daniel, Sousa, Hilï¿œrio de, Sverredal, Kristin, Valle, Daniel, Vera, Javier, Voï¿œ, Judith, Witte, Tim, Wu, Henry, Yam, Stephanie, Ye, Jingting, Yong, Maisie, Yuditha, Tessa, Zariquiey, Roberto, Forkel, Robert, Evans, Nicholas, Levinson, Stephen C., Haspelmath, Martin, Greenhill1, Simon J., Atkinson, Quentin D., and Gray, Russell D.

Published
2023
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8. Disentangling Ancestral State Reconstruction in historical linguistics: Comparing classic approaches and new methods using Oceanic grammar.

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig

Subjects
HISTORICAL linguistics, RECONSTRUCTION (Linguistics), GRAMMAR, ACOUSTIC field, DATABASES
Abstract

Copyright of Diachronica is the property of John Benjamins Publishing Co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Published
2024
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9. Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig, primary, Haynie, Hannah J., additional, Blasi, Damián E., additional, Hammarström, Harald, additional, Collins, Jeremy, additional, Latarche, Jay J., additional, Lesage, Jakob, additional, Weber, Tobias, additional, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, additional, Passmore, Sam, additional, Chira, Angela, additional, Maurits, Luke, additional, Dinnage, Russell, additional, Dunn, Michael, additional, Reesink, Ger, additional, Singer, Ruth, additional, Bowern, Claire, additional, Epps, Patience, additional, Hill, Jane, additional, Vesakoski, Outi, additional, Robbeets, Martine, additional, Abbas, Noor Karolin, additional, Auer, Daniel, additional, Bakker, Nancy A., additional, Barbos, Giulia, additional, Borges, Robert D., additional, Danielsen, Swintha, additional, Dorenbusch, Luise, additional, Dorn, Ella, additional, Elliott, John, additional, Falcone, Giada, additional, Fischer, Jana, additional, Ghanggo Ate, Yustinus, additional, Gibson, Hannah, additional, Göbel, Hans-Philipp, additional, Goodall, Jemima A., additional, Gruner, Victoria, additional, Harvey, Andrew, additional, Hayes, Rebekah, additional, Heer, Leonard, additional, Herrera Miranda, Roberto E., additional, Hübler, Nataliia, additional, Huntington-Rainey, Biu, additional, Ivani, Jessica K., additional, Johns, Marilen, additional, Just, Erika, additional, Kashima, Eri, additional, Kipf, Carolina, additional, Klingenberg, Janina V., additional, König, Nikita, additional, Koti, Aikaterina, additional, Kowalik, Richard G. A., additional, Krasnoukhova, Olga, additional, Lindvall, Nora L. M., additional, Lorenzen, Mandy, additional, Lutzenberger, Hannah, additional, Martins, Tânia R. A., additional, Mata German, Celia, additional, van der Meer, Suzanne, additional, Montoya Samamé, Jaime, additional, Müller, Michael, additional, Muradoglu, Saliha, additional, Neely, Kelsey, additional, Nickel, Johanna, additional, Norvik, Miina, additional, Oluoch, Cheryl Akinyi, additional, Peacock, Jesse, additional, Pearey, India O. C., additional, Peck, Naomi, additional, Petit, Stephanie, additional, Pieper, Sören, additional, Poblete, Mariana, additional, Prestipino, Daniel, additional, Raabe, Linda, additional, Raja, Amna, additional, Reimringer, Janis, additional, Rey, Sydney C., additional, Rizaew, Julia, additional, Ruppert, Eloisa, additional, Salmon, Kim K., additional, Sammet, Jill, additional, Schembri, Rhiannon, additional, Schlabbach, Lars, additional, Schmidt, Frederick W. P., additional, Skilton, Amalia, additional, Smith, Wikaliler Daniel, additional, de Sousa, Hilário, additional, Sverredal, Kristin, additional, Valle, Daniel, additional, Vera, Javier, additional, Voß, Judith, additional, Witte, Tim, additional, Wu, Henry, additional, Yam, Stephanie, additional, Ye, Jingting, additional, Yong, Maisie, additional, Yuditha, Tessa, additional, Zariquiey, Roberto, additional, Forkel, Robert, additional, Evans, Nicholas, additional, Levinson, Stephen C., additional, Haspelmath, Martin, additional, Greenhill, Simon J., additional, Atkinson, Quentin D., additional, and Gray, Russell D., additional

Published
2023
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12. Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig, primary, Haynie, Hannah J., additional, Blasi, Damián E., additional, Hammarström, Harald, additional, Collins, Jeremy, additional, Latarche, Jay J., additional, Lesage, Jakob, additional, Weber, Tobias, additional, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, additional, Passmore, Sam, additional, Chira, Angela M., additional, Maurits, Luke, additional, Dinnage, Russell, additional, Dunn, Michael, additional, Reesink, Ger, additional, Singer, Ruth, additional, Bowern, Claire, additional, Epps, Patience L, additional, Hill, Jane, additional, Vesakoski, Outi, additional, Robbeets, Martine, additional, Abbas, Noor Karolin, additional, Auer, Daniel, additional, Bakker, Nancy A., additional, Barbos, Giulia, additional, Borges, Robert D., additional, Danielsen, Swintha, additional, Dorenbusch, Luise, additional, Dorn, Ella, additional, Elliott, John, additional, Falcone, Giada, additional, Fischer, Jana, additional, Ate, Yustinus Ghanggo, additional, Gibson, Hannah, additional, Göbel, Hans-Philipp, additional, Goodall, Jemima A., additional, Gruner, Victoria, additional, Harvey, Andrew, additional, Hayes, Rebekah, additional, Heer, Leonard, additional, Miranda, Roberto E. Herrera, additional, Hübler, Nataliia, additional, Huntington-Rainey, Biu H., additional, Ivani, Jessica K., additional, Johns, Marilen, additional, Just, Erika, additional, Kashima, Eri, additional, Kipf, Carolina, additional, Klingenberg, Janina V., additional, König, Nikita, additional, Koti, Aikaterina, additional, Kowalik, Richard G. A., additional, Krasnoukhova, Olga, additional, Lindvall, Nora L. M., additional, Lorenzen, Mandy, additional, Lutzenberger, Hannah, additional, Martins, Tânia R.A., additional, German, Celia Mata, additional, van der Meer, Suzanne, additional, Samamé, Jaime Montoya, additional, Müller, Michael, additional, Muradoglu, Saliha, additional, Neely, Kelsey, additional, Nickel, Johanna, additional, Norvik, Miina, additional, Oluoch, Cheryl Akinyi, additional, Peacock, Jesse, additional, Pearey, India O.C., additional, peck, naomi, additional, Petit, Stephanie, additional, Pieper, Sören, additional, Poblete, Mariana, additional, Prestipino, Daniel, additional, Raabe, Linda, additional, Raja, Amna, additional, Reimringer, Janis, additional, Rey, Sydney C., additional, Rizaew, Julia, additional, Ruppert, Eloisa, additional, Salmon, Kim K., additional, Sammet, Jill, additional, Schembri, Rhiannon, additional, Schlabbach, Lars, additional, Schmidt, Frederick W.P., additional, Skilton, Amalia, additional, Smith, Wikaliler Daniel, additional, de Sousa, Hilário, additional, Sverredal, Kristin, additional, Valle, Daniel, additional, Vera, Javier, additional, Voß, Judith, additional, Witte, Tim, additional, Wu, Henry, additional, Yam, Stephanie, additional, 葉婧婷, Jingting Ye, additional, Yong, Maisie, additional, Yuditha, Tessa, additional, Zariquiey, Roberto, additional, Forkel, Robert, additional, Evans, Nicholas, additional, Levinson, Stephen C., additional, Haspelmath, Martin, additional, Greenhill, Simon J., additional, Atkinson, Quentin, additional, and Gray, Russell D., additional

Published
2022
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13. Glottospace

Author

Norder, Sietze, Becker, Laura, Skirgård, Hedvig, Arias, Leonardo, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, van Gijn, Rik, Environmental Sciences, and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

The glottospace R package facilitates the geospatial analysis of linguistic and cultural data. The aim of the package is to provide a streamlined workflow for geolinguistic analysis, including data entry, data import, cleaning, exploration, language mapping and visualisation, and export. Glottospace is also intended as an R interface to global linguistic and cultural databases such as Glottolog, WALS, and D-PLACE, contributing to improved reproducibility of data analysis.

Published
2022

15. A quantitative global test of the complexity trade-off hypothesis: the case of nominal and verbal grammatical marking.

Author

Shcherbakova, Olena, Gast, Volker, Blasi, Damián E., Skirgård, Hedvig, Gray, Russell D., and Greenhill, Simon J.

Subjects
INDO-European languages, PHYLOGENETIC models, LINGUISTIC complexity, DATABASES, HYPOTHESIS
Abstract

Nouns and verbs are known to differ in the types of grammatical information they encode. What is less well known is the relationship between verbal and nominal coding within and across languages. The equi-complexity hypothesis holds that all languages are equally complex overall, which entails trade-offs between coding in different domains. From a diachronic point of view, this hypothesis implies that the loss and gain of coding in different domains can be expected to balance each other out. In this study, we test to what extent such inverse coevolution can be observed in a sample of 244 languages, using data from a comprehensive cross-linguistic database (Grambank) and applying computational phylogenetic modelling to control for genealogical relatedness. We find evidence for coevolutionary relationships between specific features within nominal and verbal domains on a global scale, but not for overall degrees of grammatical coding between languages. Instead, these amounts of nominal and verbal coding are positively correlated in Sino-Tibetan languages and inversely correlated in Indo-European languages. Our findings indicate that accretion and loss of grammatical information in nominal words and verbs are lineage-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2023
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16. Glottospace: R package for language mapping and geospatial analysis of linguistic and cultural data

Author

Norder, Sietze, Becker, Laura, Skirgård, Hedvig, Arias, Leonardo, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, van Gijn, Rik, Norder, Sietze, Becker, Laura, Skirgård, Hedvig, Arias, Leonardo, Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena, and van Gijn, Rik

Abstract

The glottospace R package facilitates the geospatial analysis of linguistic and cultural data. The aim of the package is to provide a streamlined workflow for geolinguistic analysis, including data entry, data import, cleaning, exploration, language mapping and visualisation, and export. Glottospace is also intended as an R interface to global linguistic and cultural databases such as Glottolog, WALS, and D-PLACE, contributing to improved reproducibility of data analysis.

Published
2022

18. Overlooked data in typological databases: What grambank teaches us about gaps in grammars

Author

Lesage, Jakob, Hannah J. Haynie, Skirgård, Hedvig, Weber, Tobias, and Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena

Abstract

Typological databases can contain a wealth of information beyond the collection of linguistic properties across languages. This papershows how information often overlooked in typological databases can inform the research community about the state of description ofthe world’s languages. We illustrate this using Grambank, a morphosyntactic typological database covering 2,467 language varieties andbased on 3,951 grammatical descriptions. We classify and quantify the comments that accompany coded values in Grambank. We thenaggregate these comments and the coded values to derive a level of description for 17 grammatical domains that Grambank covers(negation, adnominal modification, participant marking, tense, aspect, etc.). We show that the description level of grammatical domainsvaries across space and time. Information about gaps and uncertainties in the descriptive knowledge of grammatical domains within andacross languages is essential for a correct analysis of data in typological databases and for the study of grammatical diversity moregenerally. When collected in a database, such information feeds into disciplines that focus on primary data collection, such asgrammaticography and language documentation.

Published
2022

20. CHIELD: the causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database

Author

Roberts, Seán G, primary, Killin, Anton, additional, Deb, Angarika, additional, Sheard, Catherine, additional, Greenhill, Simon J, additional, Sinnemäki, Kaius, additional, Segovia-Martín, José, additional, Nölle, Jonas, additional, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, additional, Humphreys-Balkwill, Archie, additional, Little, Hannah, additional, Opie, Christopher, additional, Jacques, Guillaume, additional, Bromham, Lindell, additional, Tinits, Peeter, additional, Ross, Robert M, additional, Lee, Sean, additional, Gasser, Emily, additional, Calladine, Jasmine, additional, Spike, Matthew, additional, Mann, Stephen Francis, additional, Shcherbakova, Olena, additional, Singer, Ruth, additional, Zhang, Shuya, additional, Benítez-Burraco, Antonio, additional, Kliesch, Christian, additional, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, additional, Skirgård, Hedvig, additional, Tamariz, Monica, additional, Passmore, Sam, additional, Pellard, Thomas, additional, and Jordan, Fiona, additional

Published
2020
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21. CHIELD:the causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database

Author

Roberts, Seán G, Killin, Anton, Deb, Angarika, Sheard, Catherine, Greenhill, Simon J, Sinnemäki, Kaius, Segovia-Martín, José, Nölle, Jonas, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, Humphreys-Balkwill, Archie, Little, Hannah, Opie, Christopher, Jacques, Guillaume, Bromham, Lindell, Tinits, Peeter, Ross, Robert M, Lee, Sean, Gasser, Emily, Calladine, Jasmine, Spike, Matthew, Mann, Stephen Francis, Shcherbakova, Olena, Singer, Ruth, Zhang, Shuya, Benítez-Burraco, Antonio, Kliesch, Christian, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, Skirgård, Hedvig, Tamariz, Monica, Passmore, Sam, Pellard, Thomas, Jordan, Fiona, Roberts, Seán G, Killin, Anton, Deb, Angarika, Sheard, Catherine, Greenhill, Simon J, Sinnemäki, Kaius, Segovia-Martín, José, Nölle, Jonas, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, Humphreys-Balkwill, Archie, Little, Hannah, Opie, Christopher, Jacques, Guillaume, Bromham, Lindell, Tinits, Peeter, Ross, Robert M, Lee, Sean, Gasser, Emily, Calladine, Jasmine, Spike, Matthew, Mann, Stephen Francis, Shcherbakova, Olena, Singer, Ruth, Zhang, Shuya, Benítez-Burraco, Antonio, Kliesch, Christian, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, Skirgård, Hedvig, Tamariz, Monica, Passmore, Sam, Pellard, Thomas, and Jordan, Fiona

Abstract

Language is one of the most complex of human traits. There are many hypotheses about how it originated, what factors shaped its diversity, and what ongoing processes drive how it changes. We present the Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Linguistics Database (CHIELD, https://chield.excd.org/), a tool for expressing, exploring, and evaluating hypotheses. It allows researchers to integrate multiple theories into a coherent narrative, helping to design future research. We present design goals, a formal specification, and an implementation for this database. Source code is freely available for other fields to take advantage of this tool. Some initial results are presented, including identifying conflicts in theories about gossip and ritual, comparing hypotheses relating population size and morphological complexity, and an author relation network.

Published
2020

22. CHIELD: the causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database

Author

Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Lengua Española, Lingüística y Teoría de la Literatura, European Union (UE). H2020, European Research Council (ERC), Academy of Finland, Australian Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, John Templeton Fund, G Roberts, Seán, Killin, Anton, Deb, Angarika, Sheard, Catherine, Greenhill, Simon J, Sinnemäki, Kaius, Segovia- Martín, José, Nölle, Jonas, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, Humphreys- Balkawill, Archie, Little, Hannah, Opie, Christopher, Jacques, Guillaume, Bromham, Lindell, Tinits, Peeter, Ross, M., Lee, Sean, Gasser, Emily, Calladine, Jasmine, Spike, Matthew, Mann, Stephen Francis, Shcherbakova, Olena, Singer, Ruth, Zhang, Shuya, Benítez Burraco, Antonio, Kliesch, Christian, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, Skirgård, Hedvig, Tamariz, Monica, Passmore, Sam, Pellard, Thomas, Jordan, Fiona, Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Lengua Española, Lingüística y Teoría de la Literatura, European Union (UE). H2020, European Research Council (ERC), Academy of Finland, Australian Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, John Templeton Fund, G Roberts, Seán, Killin, Anton, Deb, Angarika, Sheard, Catherine, Greenhill, Simon J, Sinnemäki, Kaius, Segovia- Martín, José, Nölle, Jonas, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, Humphreys- Balkawill, Archie, Little, Hannah, Opie, Christopher, Jacques, Guillaume, Bromham, Lindell, Tinits, Peeter, Ross, M., Lee, Sean, Gasser, Emily, Calladine, Jasmine, Spike, Matthew, Mann, Stephen Francis, Shcherbakova, Olena, Singer, Ruth, Zhang, Shuya, Benítez Burraco, Antonio, Kliesch, Christian, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, Skirgård, Hedvig, Tamariz, Monica, Passmore, Sam, Pellard, Thomas, and Jordan, Fiona

Abstract

Language is one of the most complex of human traits. There are many hypotheses about how it originated, what factors shaped its diversity, and what ongoing processes drive how it changes. We present the Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Linguistics Database (CHIELD, https://chield.excd.org/), a tool for expressing, exploring, and evaluating hypotheses. It allows researchers to integrate multiple theories into a coherent narrative, helping to design future research. We present design goals, a formal specification, and an implementation for this database. Source code is freely available for other fields to take advantage of this tool. Some initial results are presented, including identifying conflicts in theories about gossip and ritual, comparing hypotheses relating population size and morphological complexity, and an author relation network.

Published
2020

23. CHIELD : the causal hypotheses in evolutionary linguistics database

Author

Roberts, Seán G, Killin, Anton, Deb, Angarika, Sheard, Catherine, Greenhill, Simon J, Sinnemäki, Kaius, Segovia-Martín, José, Nölle, Jonas, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, Humphreys-Balkwill, Archie, Little, Hannah, Opie, Christopher, Jacques, Guillaume, Bromham, Lindell, Tinits, Peeter, Ross, Robert M, Lee, Sean, Gasser, Emily, Calladine, Jasmine, Spike, Matthew, Mann, Stephen Francis, Shcherbakova, Olena, Singer, Ruth, Zhang, Shuya, Benítez-Burraco, Antonio, Kliesch, Christian, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, Skirgård, Hedvig, Tamariz, Monica, Passmore, Sam, Pellard, Thomas, Jordan, Fiona, Roberts, Seán G, Killin, Anton, Deb, Angarika, Sheard, Catherine, Greenhill, Simon J, Sinnemäki, Kaius, Segovia-Martín, José, Nölle, Jonas, Berdicevskis, Aleksandrs, Humphreys-Balkwill, Archie, Little, Hannah, Opie, Christopher, Jacques, Guillaume, Bromham, Lindell, Tinits, Peeter, Ross, Robert M, Lee, Sean, Gasser, Emily, Calladine, Jasmine, Spike, Matthew, Mann, Stephen Francis, Shcherbakova, Olena, Singer, Ruth, Zhang, Shuya, Benítez-Burraco, Antonio, Kliesch, Christian, Thomas-Colquhoun, Ewan, Skirgård, Hedvig, Tamariz, Monica, Passmore, Sam, Pellard, Thomas, and Jordan, Fiona

Abstract

Language is one of the most complex of human traits. There are many hypotheses about how it originated, what factors shaped its diversity, and what ongoing processes drive how it changes. We present the Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Linguistics Database (CHIELD, https://chield.excd.org/), a tool for expressing, exploring, and evaluating hypotheses. It allows researchers to integrate multiple theories into a coherent narrative, helping to design future research. We present design goals, a formal specification, and an implementation for this database. Source code is freely available for other fields to take advantage of this tool. Some initial results are presented, including identifying conflicts in theories about gossip and ritual, comparing hypotheses relating population size and morphological complexity, and an author relation network.

Published
2020

24. Why are some languages confused for others? Investigating data from the Great Language Game

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig, Roberts, Seán G., and Yencken, Lars

Subjects
Decision Analysis, Culture, lcsh:Medicine, Social Sciences, Phonology, Research and Analysis Methods, Sociology, Speech, Humans, lcsh:Science, Confusion, Language, Behavior, lcsh:R, Decision Trees, Biology and Life Sciences, Linguistics, Languages, Recreation, Engineering and Technology, lcsh:Q, Linguistic Geography, Perception, Games, Management Engineering, Research Article
Abstract

In this paper we explore the results of a large-scale online game called ‘the Great Language Game’, in which people listen to an audio speech sample and make a forced-choice guess about the identity of the language from 2 or more alternatives. The data include 15 million guesses from 400 audio recordings of 78 languages. We investigate which languages are confused for which in the game, and if this correlates with the similarities that linguists identify between languages. This includes shared lexical items, similar sound inventories and established historical relationships. Our findings are, as expected, that players are more likely to confuse two languages that are objectively more similar. We also investigate factors that may affect players’ ability to accurately select the target language, such as how many people speak the language, how often the language is mentioned in written materials and the economic power of the target language community. We see that non-linguistic factors affect players’ ability to accurately identify the target. For example, languages with wider ‘global reach’ are more often identified correctly. This suggests that both linguistic and cultural knowledge influence the perception and recognition of languages and their similarity.

Published
2017
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26. Français Tirailleur : - A Corpus Study

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig and Skirgård, Hedvig

Abstract

Français Tirailleur (FT) är ett pidginspråk som talades av västafrikanska soldateroch deras vita officerare i den franska kolonialarmen cirka 1857-1954. Den häruppsatser beskriver denna språkvatietet utifrån ett korpus som består av de dokumenteradeyttranden som hittills hittats. Studien visar bland annat att standardnegation uttrycks med en pre-verbal partikel (pas), ja/nej-frågor uttryckts främstgenom intonation, genussystemet är inte produktivt, det finns ingen skillnad mellansubjekt och objekt i pronomensystemet och attributiv ägande uttrycks med possessivapronomen, juxtaposition eller prepositioner. Den standardiserade type-token-rationär 26%, vidare forskning om ordförråd i pidginspråk och jämförelser med talat språkbehövs. Det finns två former som är väldigt frekventa och som anses vara mycketkarakteristiska för FT: ya och yena. Dessa former har tidigare beskrivits som stativaverb, relativmarkörer och finithetsmarkörer. De förekommer i majoriteten av alladokument i korpuset. De fungerar som stativa verb, kopula eller kopulalika markörer,samt potentiellt även som predikatsmarkörer. Frågan om huruvida adjektiv är enrelevant språklig kategori i denna pidgin diskuteras också i denna uppsats., Français Tirailleur (FT) is a pidgin language that was spoken by West Africansoldiers and their white officers in the French colonial army approximately 1857-1954.The aim of this study is to investigate a corpus of previously unanalyzed utterancesof FT in order to discern linguistic structures and test previous statements about thenature of FT. Much of previous literature on FT is based on an anonymous manualpublished by the French military in 1916, this thesis aims to provide new informationto our understanding of this pidgin. These are some of the findings: standardnegation is expressed by means of a preverbal particle (pas), polar interrogation byintonation, grammatical gender is not a productive category and attributive possessionis expressed by possessive pronouns, juxtaposition (possessum - possessor) andprepositional constructions. The standardized type-token-ratio of this corpus, 26%,suggests that the lexicon of pidgins needs to be further studied. Comparisons withcorpuses of spoken language are needed. There are two very frequent pre-predicatemarkers that are considered characteristic of FT: ya and yena. These two markershave previously been described as stative verbs, relativizers and markers of finiteness.The two markers are very frequent in a majority of the sources and are highly polysemous,functioning as stative verbs, copula or copula-like markers and possibly alsopredicate markers. The status of adjectives as a part-of-speech in FT is also discussed.

Published
2013

27. Research on 2,400 languages shows nearly half the world's language diversity is at risk.

Author

Skirgård, Hedvig and Greenhill, Simon

Subjects
LANGUAGE research, UNIVERSAL language, LANGUAGE maintenance
Abstract

A new, extensive database of language grammars from around the world indicates an alarming trend of global language loss. There are more than 7,000 languages in the world, and their grammar can vary a lot. [Extracted from the article]

Published
2023

28. Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss

Author

Hedvig Skirgård, Hannah J. Haynie, Damián E. Blasi, Harald Hammarström, Jeremy Collins, Jay J. Latarche, Jakob Lesage, Tobias Weber, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Sam Passmore, Angela Chira, Luke Maurits, Russell Dinnage, Michael Dunn, Ger Reesink, Ruth Singer, Claire Bowern, Patience Epps, Jane Hill, Outi Vesakoski, Martine Robbeets, Noor Karolin Abbas, Daniel Auer, Nancy A. Bakker, Giulia Barbos, Robert D. Borges, Swintha Danielsen, Luise Dorenbusch, Ella Dorn, John Elliott, Giada Falcone, Jana Fischer, Yustinus Ghanggo Ate, Hannah Gibson, Hans-Philipp Göbel, Jemima A. Goodall, Victoria Gruner, Andrew Harvey, Rebekah Hayes, Leonard Heer, Roberto E. Herrera Miranda, Nataliia Hübler, Biu Huntington-Rainey, Jessica K. Ivani, Marilen Johns, Erika Just, Eri Kashima, Carolina Kipf, Janina V. Klingenberg, Nikita König, Aikaterina Koti, Richard G. A. Kowalik, Olga Krasnoukhova, Nora L. M. Lindvall, Mandy Lorenzen, Hannah Lutzenberger, Tânia R. A. Martins, Celia Mata German, Suzanne van der Meer, Jaime Montoya Samamé, Michael Müller, Saliha Muradoglu, Kelsey Neely, Johanna Nickel, Miina Norvik, Cheryl Akinyi Oluoch, Jesse Peacock, India O. C. Pearey, Naomi Peck, Stephanie Petit, Sören Pieper, Mariana Poblete, Daniel Prestipino, Linda Raabe, Amna Raja, Janis Reimringer, Sydney C. Rey, Julia Rizaew, Eloisa Ruppert, Kim K. Salmon, Jill Sammet, Rhiannon Schembri, Lars Schlabbach, Frederick W. P. Schmidt, Amalia Skilton, Wikaliler Daniel Smith, Hilário de Sousa, Kristin Sverredal, Daniel Valle, Javier Vera, Judith Voß, Tim Witte, Henry Wu, Stephanie Yam, Jingting Ye, Maisie Yong, Tessa Yuditha, Roberto Zariquiey, Robert Forkel, Nicholas Evans, Stephen C. Levinson, Martin Haspelmath, Simon J. Greenhill, Quentin D. Atkinson, Russell D. Gray, Skirgård, Hedvig [0000-0002-7748-2381], Haynie, Hannah J [0000-0003-2237-230X], Blasi, Damián E [0000-0002-9885-1414], Latarche, Jay J [0000-0002-0486-248X], Lesage, Jakob [0000-0002-3751-9637], Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena [0000-0003-0138-4635], Chira, Angela [0000-0002-2964-7583], Maurits, Luke [0000-0002-3130-4256], Dinnage, Russell [0000-0003-0846-2819], Dunn, Michael [0000-0001-5349-5252], Reesink, Ger [0000-0002-8724-7887], Singer, Ruth [0000-0003-4915-3262], Bowern, Claire [0000-0002-9512-4393], Epps, Patience [0000-0002-7429-7885], Hill, Jane [0000-0002-4501-1016], Vesakoski, Outi [0000-0002-7220-3347], Abbas, Noor Karolin [0000-0002-6602-4772], Borges, Robert D [0000-0002-7647-4048], Dorenbusch, Luise [0000-0003-0410-6921], Dorn, Ella [0000-0002-6344-4907], Fischer, Jana [0000-0003-0576-1098], Ghanggo Ate, Yustinus [0000-0003-4378-5277], Gibson, Hannah [0000-0003-2324-3147], Goodall, Jemima A [0000-0002-0310-9445], Gruner, Victoria [0000-0002-4504-1274], Harvey, Andrew [0000-0003-3659-4704], Hayes, Rebekah [0000-0003-0978-2646], Heer, Leonard [0000-0002-1569-9761], Hübler, Nataliia [0000-0002-0013-563X], Just, Erika [0000-0001-7244-3714], Kashima, Eri [0000-0002-7534-7047], König, Nikita [0000-0001-9582-9361], Koti, Aikaterina [0000-0002-8155-7120], Kowalik, Richard GA [0000-0003-4903-997X], Krasnoukhova, Olga [0000-0002-1953-7954], Lindvall, Nora LM [0000-0003-4640-7589], Lorenzen, Mandy [0000-0001-5433-8224], Lutzenberger, Hannah [0000-0003-0574-4060], Martins, Tânia RA [0000-0002-3648-2190], van der Meer, Suzanne [0000-0002-4232-8675], Montoya Samamé, Jaime [0000-0003-3797-1161], Müller, Michael [0000-0002-2027-7301], Norvik, Miina [0000-0001-5781-3916], Oluoch, Cheryl Akinyi [0000-0003-2465-719X], Peck, Naomi [0000-0003-3567-813X], Poblete, Mariana [0000-0003-0253-712X], Raabe, Linda [0000-0002-3684-3742], Reimringer, Janis [0000-0001-6769-8907], Rey, Sydney C [0000-0002-5657-9221], Rizaew, Julia [0000-0002-4250-8035], Salmon, Kim K [0000-0001-8515-1008], Sammet, Jill [0000-0003-0869-795X], Schmidt, Frederick WP [0000-0002-1429-966X], Skilton, Amalia [0000-0002-9848-5688], de Sousa, Hilário [0000-0002-3790-8245], Vera, Javier [0000-0002-5234-6279], Wu, Henry [0000-0002-5762-3124], Ye, Jingting [0000-0001-8813-131X], Yuditha, Tessa [0000-0002-1280-7245], Zariquiey, Roberto [0000-0002-1421-1314], Forkel, Robert [0000-0003-1081-086X], Evans, Nicholas [0000-0003-0893-3713], Levinson, Stephen C [0000-0001-8961-5316], Greenhill, Simon J [0000-0001-7832-6156], Atkinson, Quentin D [0000-0002-8499-7535], Gray, Russell D [0000-0002-9858-0191], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository

Subjects
Multidisciplinary, Cognition, Databases, Factual, Humans, Linguistics, Language
Abstract

While global patterns of human genetic diversity are increasingly well characterized, the diversity of human languages remains less systematically described. Here we outline the Grambank database. With over 400,000 data points and 2,400 languages, Grambank is the largest comparative grammatical database available. The comprehensiveness of Grambank allows us to quantify the relative effects of genealogical inheritance and geographic proximity on the structural diversity of the world's languages, evaluate constraints on linguistic diversity, and identify the world's most unusual languages. An analysis of the consequences of language loss reveals that the reduction in diversity will be strikingly uneven across the major linguistic regions of the world. Without sustained efforts to document and revitalize endangered languages, our linguistic window into human history, cognition and culture will be seriously fragmented. Genealogy versus geography Constraints on grammar Unusual languages Language loss Conclusion

Published
2023

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