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If Americans and the British are two peoples divided by a common language, then the whole world is one united by the mutual incomprehension of nearly 7000. Language is perhaps the defining feature of our species, and yet also the most divisive.
In the same way that species are adapted to fit certain habitats, languages evolve to suit the particular needs of their speakers. Everything from a population’s genetic and social make-up to the climate and plant cover of the place they live seem to exert an influence.
The cultural wedge may also explain why languages, like living organisms, proliferate in the tropics. Around 60 per cent of the world’s nearly 7000 languages are found in two areas coinciding almost exactly with the two great belts of equatorial forest, one in Africa and the other across southern Asia and the Pacific. The richest place of all is Papua New Guinea, home to 1 in 7 of the world’s languages. One explanation is that a climate that favours biodiversity also makes it easier for people in small splinter groups to grow food and survive on their own.[…]
Since vowels are easier to hear at a distance than most consonants, people in warmer countries use sounds that help them communicate outdoors. In contrast, people in chillier climates might be more likely to talk indoors, so it’s not as important to use sounds that carry.
Climate seems to influence the consonants we use too. Nasal sounds like “n” and “m” are more common in warm regions, while “obstruents” like “t”, “g” and the Scottish “och” sound are more common in cooler ones.
…complex grammars are more common in small languages whose speakers have little contact with outsiders. Those with simpler rules - such as English and Mandarin - tend to be spoken by larger populations that have contact with lots of other societies.
Lupyan points out that adults find it difficult to master intricate or irregular rules so they tend to simplify when they learn a language. Children, in contrast, seem to favour complexity, as the additional linguistic cues help clarify the sentence’s meaning. Lupyan’s latest computer simulations suggest that grammar is swayed by the need to balance these competing demands.
Americans seem to use more regular forms of words which would be easier for an adult to learn. This fits with his hypothesis, since America’s historically high rate of immigration means a greater proportion of second-language learners.
With exposure to the common media, you might expect differences to diminish, but they’re not going away, since we use language to confirm our social identity.
In the same way that species are adapted to fit certain habitats, languages evolve to suit the particular needs of their speakers. Everything from a population’s genetic and social make-up to the climate and plant cover of the place they live seem to exert an influence.
The cultural wedge may also explain why languages, like living organisms, proliferate in the tropics. Around 60 per cent of the world’s nearly 7000 languages are found in two areas coinciding almost exactly with the two great belts of equatorial forest, one in Africa and the other across southern Asia and the Pacific. The richest place of all is Papua New Guinea, home to 1 in 7 of the world’s languages. One explanation is that a climate that favours biodiversity also makes it easier for people in small splinter groups to grow food and survive on their own.[…]
Since vowels are easier to hear at a distance than most consonants, people in warmer countries use sounds that help them communicate outdoors. In contrast, people in chillier climates might be more likely to talk indoors, so it’s not as important to use sounds that carry.
Climate seems to influence the consonants we use too. Nasal sounds like “n” and “m” are more common in warm regions, while “obstruents” like “t”, “g” and the Scottish “och” sound are more common in cooler ones.
…complex grammars are more common in small languages whose speakers have little contact with outsiders. Those with simpler rules - such as English and Mandarin - tend to be spoken by larger populations that have contact with lots of other societies.
Lupyan points out that adults find it difficult to master intricate or irregular rules so they tend to simplify when they learn a language. Children, in contrast, seem to favour complexity, as the additional linguistic cues help clarify the sentence’s meaning. Lupyan’s latest computer simulations suggest that grammar is swayed by the need to balance these competing demands.
Americans seem to use more regular forms of words which would be easier for an adult to learn. This fits with his hypothesis, since America’s historically high rate of immigration means a greater proportion of second-language learners.
With exposure to the common media, you might expect differences to diminish, but they’re not going away, since we use language to confirm our social identity.
