Development of Language Influenced By Geographical Elevation

A study reveals that the development of a language is influenced not just by the environment but also of geological elevation. The study notes a trend in language with ejective consonants (sounds produced with a burst of air) being predominant in regions of high elevation.

There are about 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently used in the world today. These can be grouped by common ancestry into language families. There are hundreds of language families but the predominant language families are:

• Indo-European languages - These are languages that include English, Spanish, Russian, and Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu). 46% of the world's population speak languages under this family.
• Sino-Tibetan languages - 21% of the world's population speak this language which includes East Asian language,Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese
• Niger-Congo languages - Cover African language such as Swahili, Shona, and Yoruba. 6.4% of the world's population speak this language.
• Afroasiatic languages - Include the Arabic, Hebrew language, and the languages of the Sahara region, such as the Berber languages and Hausa.
• Austronesian languages - spoken by 5.9% of the population covers the area from Madagascar to Oceania and includes Malagasy, Māori, Samoan, and many of the indigenous languages of Indonesia and Taiwan.

Plot of the locations of the languages in the sample. Dark circles represent languages with ejectives, clear circles represent those without ejectives. Clusters of languages with ejectives are highlighted with white rectangles. For illustrative purposes only. Inset: Lat-long plot of polygons exceeding 1500 m in elevation. Adapted from Figure 4 in [8]. The six major inhabitable areas of high elevation are highlighted via ellipses: (1) North American cordillera (2) Andes (3) Southern African plateau (4) East African rift (5) Caucasus and Javakheti plateau (6) Tibetan plateau and adjacent regions.
Credit: Caleb Everett, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Science at the University of Miami

Basis of Words Used Similar To Dimensions of Semantic Differential

Researchers believe that choices people make are based on three dimensions of evaluation, potency, and activity. This is similar to Semantic Differential, an influential method devised 50 years ago.

The Semantic Differential measures the meaning of things and concepts based on a denotative and a connotative aspect. A denotative aspect is what a name or idea refers to or indicates. Connotative is what the word or idea signifies. An example would be in the name of a car, like Jaguar, and what it denotes and connotes. A "Jaguar" denotes an animal but in the connotation of a car brand, its connotation could be "power" or "luxury".

Using semantic differential, connotative meaning of a concept is identified using three dimensions of meaning: strength, value, and activity.

Based on their study at Bristol's School of Experimental Psychology, Dr John Fennell and Dr Roland Baddeley noticed that these dimensions are similar to the dimensions used in making a choice.

Computer System Developed To Reconstruct Proto-languages

Rosetta Stone

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of California Berkeley, have developed a computer system that can reconstruct protolanguages at an accuracy of 85%.

The computer system developed by the researchers is being compared to the Rosetta stone since it can help in deciphering and understanding protolanguages. Most protolanguages have no written records. They are usually gathered from ancient texts or literary histories. These are extinct languages from which a number of attested, or documented, known languages are believed to have descended through evolution or slow modification. Latin, although well documented, is an example of a protolanguage. It was the protolanguage for others such as French, Italian, and Spanish.

The Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt in 1799. The stone was inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. King Ptolemy V was the fifth ruler of the of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, an ancient Greek kingdom in Egypt. The decree was written on the stone in three scripts; ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic (a precursor to coptic script), and Ancient Greek. All three versions of the script represents essentially the same text.

It was because of the Rosetta Stone that Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs was understood. It took 23 years after the discovery of the stone to unlock the mystery of the hieroglyphs. Before that, hieroglyphs were undecipherable for fifteen centuries. Up to now, the term "Rosetta Stone" is applied to devices that assist in breaking codes, translating languages or even in understanding how something works.

Bilingualism Improves Sensory and Cognitive Functions Such As Focus, Inhibitory Control, and Hearing

Bilingualism or Multilingualism is the use, communication, promotion, and application of two or more languages by an individual or a community.

There are more multilingual people in the world than monolingual (only able to communicate in one language). Because of globalization and cultural integration, people are learning more and more to speak in another language other than their mother tongue.

Persons who are fluent in two or more languages have an enhanced executive function, different organization in some cortical areas, and are better at some aspects of language learning compared to monolinguals.

Bilingualism fine-tunes hearing, enhances attention

Dual language speakers better able to encode basic language sounds and patterns

A Northwestern University study that will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides the first biological evidence that bilinguals' rich experience with language in essence "fine-tunes" their auditory nervous system and helps them juggle linguistic input in ways that enhance attention and working memory.

Northwestern bilingualism expert Viorica Marian teamed up with auditory neuroscientist Nina Kraus to investigate how bilingualism affects the brain. In particular, they looked at subcortical auditory regions that are bathed with input from cognitive brain areas. In extensive research, Kraus has already shown that lifelong music training enhances language processing, and an examination of subcortical auditory regions helped to tell that tale.

MIT NEWS: The Advantage Of Ambiguity in Language

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Why did language evolve? While the answer might seem obvious — as a way for individuals to exchange information — linguists and other students of communication have debated this question for years. Many prominent linguists, including MIT’s Noam Chomsky, have argued that language is, in fact, poorly designed for communication. Such a use, they say, is merely a byproduct of a system that probably evolved for other reasons — perhaps for structuring our own private thoughts.

Ambiguity is different from being vague. Vagueness is not being specific in communication whether by withholding information or not being precise on the delivery of the message. Ambiguity is relaying communication that may be interpreted in more ways than one. Ambiguity relies on the context of how the message is said or written down.As evidence, these linguists point to the existence of ambiguity: In a system optimized for conveying information between a speaker and a listener, they argue, each word would have just one meaning, eliminating any chance of confusion or misunderstanding. Now, a group of MIT cognitive scientists has turned this idea on its head. In a new theory, they claim that ambiguity actually makes language more efficient, by allowing for the reuse of short, efficient sounds that listeners can easily disambiguate with the help of context.

“Various people have said that ambiguity is a problem for communication,” says Ted Gibson, an MIT professor of cognitive science and senior author of a paper describing the research to appear in the journal Cognition. “But once we understand that context disambiguates, then ambiguity is not a problem — it’s something you can take advantage of, because you can reuse easy [words] in different contexts over and over again.”

Lead author of the paper is Steven Piantadosi PhD ’11; Harry Tily, a postdoc in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, is another co-author.