scholarly journals A Bayesian phylogenetic study of the Dravidian language family

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 171504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishnupriya Kolipakam ◽  
Fiona M. Jordan ◽  
Michael Dunn ◽  
Simon J. Greenhill ◽  
Remco Bouckaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Central India ◽  
Phylogenetic Study ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Bayesian Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lexical Data ◽  
Dravidian Language

The Dravidian language family consists of about 80 varieties (Hammarström H. 2016 Glottolog 2.7 ) spoken by 220 million people across southern and central India and surrounding countries (Steever SB. 1998 In The Dravidian languages (ed. SB Steever), pp. 1–39: 1). Neither the geographical origin of the Dravidian language homeland nor its exact dispersal through time are known. The history of these languages is crucial for understanding prehistory in Eurasia, because despite their current restricted range, these languages played a significant role in influencing other language groups including Indo-Aryan (Indo-European) and Munda (Austroasiatic) speakers. Here, we report the results of a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of cognate-coded lexical data, elicited first hand from native speakers, to investigate the subgrouping of the Dravidian language family, and provide dates for the major points of diversification. Our results indicate that the Dravidian language family is approximately 4500 years old, a finding that corresponds well with earlier linguistic and archaeological studies. The main branches of the Dravidian language family (North, Central, South I, South II) are recovered, although the placement of languages within these main branches diverges from previous classifications. We find considerable uncertainty with regard to the relationships between the main branches.

scholarly journals Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1725) ◽  
pp. 3662-3669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Lee ◽  
Toshikazu Hasegawa
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Striking Similarity ◽  
Agricultural Expansion ◽  
Bayesian Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Linguistic Evolution ◽  
Lexical Data

Languages, like genes, evolve by a process of descent with modification. This striking similarity between biological and linguistic evolution allows us to apply phylogenetic methods to explore how languages, as well as the people who speak them, are related to one another through evolutionary history. Language phylogenies constructed with lexical data have so far revealed population expansions of Austronesian, Indo-European and Bantu speakers. However, how robustly a phylogenetic approach can chart the history of language evolution and what language phylogenies reveal about human prehistory must be investigated more thoroughly on a global scale. Here we report a phylogeny of 59 Japonic languages and dialects. We used this phylogeny to estimate time depth of its root and compared it with the time suggested by an agricultural expansion scenario for Japanese origin. In agreement with the scenario, our results indicate that Japonic languages descended from a common ancestor approximately 2182 years ago. Together with archaeological and biological evidence, our results suggest that the first farmers of Japan had a profound impact on the origins of both people and languages. On a broader level, our results are consistent with a theory that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity.

scholarly journals The history of introduction of the African baobab ( Adansonia digitata , Malvaceae: Bombacoideae) in the Indian subcontinent

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 150370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Bell ◽  
Haripriya Rangan ◽  
Christian A. Kull ◽  
Daniel J. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Central India ◽  
Adansonia Digitata ◽  
Multiple Introductions ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Time Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Genetic Clusters ◽  
Southeast India

To investigate the pathways of introduction of the African baobab, Adansonia digitata , to the Indian subcontinent, we examined 10 microsatellite loci in individuals from Africa, India, the Mascarenes and Malaysia, and matched this with historical evidence of human interactions between source and destination regions. Genetic analysis showed broad congruence of African clusters with biogeographic regions except along the Zambezi (Mozambique) and Kilwa (Tanzania), where populations included a mixture of individuals assigned to at least two different clusters. Individuals from West Africa, the Mascarenes, southeast India and Malaysia shared a cluster. Baobabs from western and central India clustered separately from Africa. Genetic diversity was lower in populations from the Indian subcontinent than in African populations, but the former contained private alleles. Phylogenetic analysis showed Indian populations were closest to those from the Mombasa-Dar es Salaam coast. The genetic results provide evidence of multiple introductions of African baobabs to the Indian subcontinent over a longer time period than previously assumed. Individuals belonging to different genetic clusters in Zambezi and Kilwa may reflect the history of trafficking captives from inland areas to supply the slave trade between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Baobabs in the Mascarenes, southeast India and Malaysia indicate introduction from West Africa through eighteenth and nineteenth century European colonial networks.

Communicating emotions in L2 Chinese: Talk in the dorm during study abroad

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-359
Author(s):  
Qian Wu
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Genetic Method ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Expression Of Emotion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oral Interaction

AbstractCommunication of emotion is at the heart of human interaction. For second language (L2) learners, the ability to communicate one’s emotion is crucial, especially in the context of study abroad when they are in frequent contact with native speakers. The aim of the case study is to investigate how an American sojourner Puppies and her Chinese roommate Kiki (both pseudonyms) participated in conversational narratives in the dormitory to construct emotions, and how the contextualized interaction facilitated Puppies’ development of a linguistic repertoire for the expression of emotion in Chinese. Informed by Vygotskian sociocultural theory, the study followed the genetic method in tracing the history of Puppies’ Chinese emotional repertoire across the semester, thereby elucidating the language developmental processes in the situated oral interaction. Audio-recorded everyday interaction in the dorm is triangulated by Puppies’ responses to the pre- and post-Mandarin Awareness Interview and interviews with Puppies and Kiki. Analysis revealed that the contextualized dorm talk provided abundant L2 resources for Puppies to develop a L2 emotional repertoire, especially fear-related emotion expressions. A discrepancy in the product of development as gleaned from the Mandarin Awareness Interview, and the process of development as seen in the naturally occurring dorm talk, suggests that Puppies’ use or non-use of local emotional expressions could be mediated by her partial understanding of the forms and the speech style and identity she wished to assume.

scholarly journals JUDICIAL UNCERTAINTIES CONCERNING TERRITORIAL SEA DELIMITATION UNDER ARTICLE 15 OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Lando
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
History Of ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
International Tribunals ◽  
The Law ◽  
Special Circumstances

AbstractRecent international jurisprudence has shown considerable uncertainty with regard to the delimitation of the territorial sea. While international tribunals endorse a two-stage approach to territorial sea delimitation, there is a lack of judicial consensus on the practical implementation of such an approach. This article argues that the rule-exception relationship between equidistance and special circumstances, as reflected in the drafting history of LOSC Article 15 and in jurisprudence prior to 2007, should inform the delimitation of the territorial sea. Cases since 2007 which have strayed from the earlier jurisprudence on LOSC Article 15, should be seen as a misconstruction of the law applicable to territorial sea delimitation.

Differences in accounting students’ perceptions of their development of professional skills

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-59
Author(s):  
Marina Kirstein ◽  
Stephen Coetzee ◽  
Astrid Schmulian
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Differentiated Instruction ◽  
South African ◽  
White Students ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
African Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
History Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in South African accounting students’ perceptions of professional skills developed in an undergraduate accounting program. South Africa has a history of socio-economic inequality and racial injustice, leading to factors outside the classroom impacting educational outcomes. In particular, South African classes are heterogeneous, reflecting a diversity of race and language groups and students from differing schooling backgrounds. These differences necessitate differentiated instruction. Design/methodology/approach To explore for differences in perceptions, data were collected via questionnaires and differences between demographic variables such as school, race and language were considered, while controlling for gender. A focus group was also hosted to further explore findings. Findings Students from better quality schools agreed less strongly than those from poorer quality schools that the education program developed their professional skills. Students from better quality schools may have developed some of the professional skills during their schooling, requiring less to be developed at university. African students, though, agreed less strongly than white students from similar quality schools that they had developed professional skills. A focus group suggested that African students place less emphasis on professional skills development than on technical skills, given their lack of exposure to professional skills through mentors (parents, teachers, etc.) who never developed professional skills during their own compromised education under Apartheid. Originality/value Understanding the differences in the perceptions of professional skill development in a heterogeneous classroom can assist instructors in adopting differentiated instruction approaches to enable all students to develop professional skills. It could also assist future employers of these graduates to differentiate their development strategies during workplace training.

scholarly journals Onko uralilaisen etnohistorian tutkimuksessa tapahtunut käänne? Monitieteisyys ja uudet teoriat itämerensuomalaisten kielten synnystä Valter Langin Homo Fennicuksen valossa

2021 ◽  
pp. 289-298
Author(s):  
Janne Saarikivi
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Early History ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Comprehensive Account ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
History Of ◽  
Loan Word

The question as to how the linguistic and archaeological data can be combined together to create a comprehensive account on the prehistory of present ethnicities is a debated issue around the globe. In particular, the identification of the new language groups in the material remnants of a particular area, or discerning in the material culture correlates for the language contact periods reflected in the loan word layers are complex and often probably insolvable questions. Regarding the early history of the Finns and the related people, Valter Lang’s new monograph on the archaeology of Estonia and the “arrivals of the Finnic people” (Läänemeresoome tulemised, 2018) has been considered a paradigm changing work in this respect. In my article I argue that despite undisputed progress in this ouevre, many of the old questions regarding time, place and method are still in place.

scholarly journals A new species of pygmy Paroctopus (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): the smallest southwestern Atlantic octopod, found in sea debris

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana S. Leite ◽  
Erica A.G. Vidal ◽  
Françoise Dantas Lima ◽  
Sergio M.Q. Lima ◽  
Ricardo M Dias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Bayesian Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Novel Habitat ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
A New Species

Abstract The new species, Paroctopus cthulu sp. nov. Leite, Haimovici, Lima and Lima, was recorded from very shallow coastal waters on sandy/muddy and shelter-poor bottoms with natural and human-origin debris. It is a small octopus, adults are less than 35 mm mantle length (ML) and weigh around 15 g. It has short to medium sized arms, enlarged suckers on the arms of both males and females, large posterior salivary glands (25 %ML), a relatively large beak (9 % ML) and medium to large mature eggs (3.5 to > 9 mm). The characteristics of hatchlings of two brooding females, some of their anatomical features, and in-situ observations of their behaviour are a clue to the life history of it and closely related pygmy octopuses. The Bayesian phylogenetic analysis showed that Paroctopus cthulu sp.nov. specimens grouped in a well-supported clade of Paroctopus species, separate from P.joubini and P. cf mercatoris from the Northwestern Atlantic . The description of this new species, living in a novel habitat of human debris in shallow water off Brazil, offered an opportunity not only to evaluate the relationship among the small octopuses of the western Atlantic, Caribbean and eastern Pacific, but also their adaptation to the Anthropocene period.

scholarly journals Speech in the foreign accent syndrome: differential diagnosis between organic and functional cases

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-332
Author(s):  
Simone dos Santos Barreto ◽  
Karin Zazo Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Prior History ◽  
Speech Impairments ◽  
Foreign Accent Syndrome ◽  
History Of ◽  
Transient Events ◽  
Classic Form

ABSTRACT. Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is an extremely rare disorder, with 112 cases described until 2019. We compare two cases of the foreign accent syndrome in native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese in its classic form (FAS) and psychiatric variant (FALS). Two cases were analyzed: (1) a right-handed, 69-year-old man, with a prior history of stroke, and (2) a right-handed, 43-year-old woman, diagnosed with schizophrenia. They were evaluate for language and speech, including the speech intelligibility. Both patients had speech impairments complaints, similar to a new accent, without previous exposure to a foreign language. However, the onset of the speech disorder was sudden in case 1 and insidious and with transient events in case 2, with speech intelligibility scores of 95.5 and 55.3% respectively. Besides neurologic impairment, the clinical presentation of FALS was extremely severe and differed to that expected in FAS cases, in which speech intelligibility is preserved.

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