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Networks of lexical borrowing and lateral gene transfer in language and genome evolution
Author(s) -
List JohannMattis,
NelsonSathi Shijulal,
Geisler Hans,
Martin William
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.201300096
Subject(s) - language evolution , parallels , genome , darwin (adl) , variation (astronomy) , evolutionary biology , sociocultural evolution , biology , natural selection , genome evolution , biological evolution , mechanism (biology) , gene , convergent evolution , phylogenetics , computer science , cognitive science , genetics , selection (genetic algorithm) , artificial intelligence , philosophy , sociology , psychology , epistemology , software engineering , anthropology , engineering , mechanical engineering , physics , astrophysics
Like biological species, languages change over time. As noted by Darwin, there are many parallels between language evolution and biological evolution. Insights into these parallels have also undergone change in the past 150 years. Just like genes, words change over time, and language evolution can be likened to genome evolution accordingly, but what kind of evolution? There are fundamental differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic evolution. In the former, natural variation entails the gradual accumulation of minor mutations in alleles. In the latter, lateral gene transfer is an integral mechanism of natural variation. The study of language evolution using biological methods has attracted much interest of late, most approaches focusing on language tree construction. These approaches may underestimate the important role that borrowing plays in language evolution. Network approaches that were originally designed to study lateral gene transfer may provide more realistic insights into the complexities of language evolution. Editor's suggested further reading in BioEssays Linguistic evidence supports date for Homeric epics Abstract