Enduring Patterns in World's Languages
Despite the vast diversity of human languages, specific grammatical patterns appear again and again. A new study reveals that around a third of the long-proposed "linguistic universals"—patterns thought to hold across all languages—are statistically supported when examined with state-of-the-art evolutionary methods.
An international team led by Annemarie Verkerk (Saarland University) and Russell D. Gray (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) used Grambank, the world's most comprehensive database of grammatical features, to test 191 proposed universals across more than 1,700 languages.
Traditionally, linguists have attempted to circumvent the genealogical and geographic non-independence of languages by sampling widely separated languages. However, sampling can fail to remove all dependencies, reduce statistical power, and does not identify historical pathways.
"Around a third of the long-proposed 'linguistic universals' are statistically supported when examined with state-of-the-art evolutionary methods."
The Role of Evolutionary Methods
The study's approach marks a significant advancement in the field of linguistics by incorporating rigorous evolutionary analysis to test universal grammatical patterns. By using the comprehensive Grambank database, the researchers were able to examine these universals across a much larger sample of languages than previous studies, allowing for more robust conclusions.
Challenges in Linguistic Research
One of the key challenges in linguistic research has been the genealogical and geographic relationships between languages. Traditional methods often overlook the influence of historical connections, which can lead to incorrect conclusions about universality. This study's new approach helps address these issues by controlling for such dependencies, increasing the reliability of the findings.
"This study’s new approach helps address genealogical and geographic dependencies, increasing the reliability of the findings."
Conclusion
In conclusion, while the vast diversity of human languages remains evident, certain grammatical patterns appear to be universal across many of them. The use of advanced evolutionary methods in this study has provided a more accurate picture of linguistic universals and their prevalence across the world's languages.
Author's Summary: This study highlights that one-third of the proposed grammatical universals hold true across languages when examined with modern evolutionary techniques, marking a major step forward in linguistic research.