Computational phylogenetics reveal histories of sign languages.

Sign languages are naturally occurring languages. As such, their emergence and spread reflect the histories of their communities. However, limitations in historical recordkeeping and linguistic documentation have hindered the diachronic analysis of sign languages. In this work, we used computational phylogenetic methods to study family structure among 19 sign languages from deaf communities worldwide. We used phonologically coded lexical data from contemporary languages to infer relatedness and suggest that these methods can help study regular form changes in sign languages. The inferred trees are consistent in key respects with known historical information but challenge certain assumed groupings and surpass analyses made available by traditional methods. Moreover, the phylogenetic inferences are not reducible to geographic distribution but do affirm the importance of geopolitical forces in the histories of human languages.

Origin of ethnic groups, linguistic families, and civilizations in China viewed from the Y chromosome.

East Asia, geographically extending to the Pamir Plateau in the west, to the Himalayan Mountains in the southwest, to Lake Baikal in the north and to the South China Sea in the south, harbors a variety of people, cultures, and languages. To reconstruct the natural history of East Asians is a mission of multiple disciplines, including genetics, archaeology, linguistics, and ethnology. Geneticists confirm the recent African origin of modern East Asians. Anatomically modern humans arose in Africa and immigrated into East Asia via a southern route approximately 50,000 years ago. Following the end of the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 12,000 years ago, rice and millet were domesticated in the south and north of East Asia, respectively, which allowed human populations to expand and linguistic families and ethnic groups to develop. These Neolithic populations produced a strong relation between the present genetic structures and linguistic families. The expansion of the Hongshan people from northeastern China relocated most of the ethnic populations on a large scale approximately 5300 years ago. Most of the ethnic groups migrated to remote regions, producing genetic structure differences between the edge and center of East Asia. In central China, pronounced population admixture occurred and accelerated over time, which subsequently formed the Han Chinese population and eventually the Chinese civilization. Population migration between the north and the south throughout history has left a smooth gradient in north-south changes in genetic structure. Observation of the process of shaping the genetic structure of East Asians may help in understanding the global natural history of modern humans.

Language evolution and complexity considerations: The no half-Merge fallacy.

Recently, prominent theoretical linguists have argued for an explicit scenario for the evolution of the human language capacity on the basis of its computational properties. Concretely, the simplicity of a minimalist formulation of the operation Merge, which allows humans to recursively compute hierarchical relations in language, has been used to promote a sudden-emergence, single-mutation scenario. In support of this view, Merge is said to be either fully present or fully absent: one cannot have half-Merge. On this basis, it is inferred that the emergence of our fully fledged language capacity had to be sudden. Thus, proponents of this view draw a parallelism between the formal complexity of the operation at the computational level and the number of evolutionary steps it must imply. Here, we examine this argument in detail and show that the jump from the atomicity of Merge to a single-mutation scenario is not valid and therefore cannot be used as justification for a theory of language evolution along those lines.

A simples apreensão do ser: Heidegger e Duns Scotus / The Simple seizure of being: Heidegger and Duns Scotus / La simples captación del ser: Heidegger y Duns Scotus

Este artigo pretende tratar da visão simples do ser como fonte e horizonte da doutrina das categorias, que Heidegger tinha em vista, ao tratar, em sua tese de habilitação, da doutrina das significações na Gramática Especulativa, então atribuída a Duns Scotus. A doutrina das categorias e sua problemática é o foco em que se acende a questão do ser no caminho do pensamento de Heidegger, questão que, sempre, de alguma maneira, vem junto com a questão da essência da linguagem. A descoberta fenomenológica da intuição categorial oferece um aporte importante para encaminhamento do problema das categorias e, assim, para a colocação da questão do ser. A doutrina das categorias, bem como a doutrina medieval dos transcendentais, tem como pressuposto fundamental a doação prévia da ordem universal do ser (o todo do pensável). A doação do ser é primordial. O ente (no seu ser) é o primeiro objeto do intelecto. A simples apreensão do ser, sua concepção, bem como a sua compreensão é o fundamento a partir do qual se pode colocar a questão do seu sentido.

This article intends to deal with the simple vision of being as the source and horizon of the doctrine of the categories, which Heidegger had in mind, when treating in his habilitation thesis, the doctrine of significations in Speculative Grammar, then attributed to Duns Scotus. The doctrine of categories and their problematics is the focus in which the question of being in the path of Heidegger's thinking is raised, an issue which always comes together in some way with the question of the essence of language. The phenomenological discovery of categorial intuition offers an important contribution to the problem of categories, and thus to the questioning of being. The doctrine of categories, as well as the medieval doctrine of the transcendental, has as its fundamental presupposition the prior giving of the universal order of being (the whole of the thinkable). The gift of being is primordial. The being is the first object of the intellect. The simple apprehension of the being, its conception, as well as its comprehension is the foundation from which one can put the question of its meaning.

Este artículo pretende tratar de la visión simple del ser como fuente y horizonte de la doctrina de las categorías, que Heidegger tenía en vista, al tratar, en su tesis de habilitación, de la doctrina de las significaciones en la Gramática Especulativa, entonces atribuida a Duns Escoto. La doctrina de las categorías y su problemática es el punto central que enciende el debate del ser en la línea del pensamiento de Heidegger, cuestión que, siempre, de alguna manera, viene junto con el debate de la esencia del lenguaje. El descubrimiento fenomenológico de la intuición categorial ofrece un aporte importante para encaminar el problema de las categorías y, así, para el planteamiento de la cuestión del ser. La doctrina de las categorías, así como la doctrina medieval de los trascendentales, tiene como presupuesto fundamental la donación previa del orden universal del ser (el todo del pensable). La donación del ser es primordial. El ente (en su ser) es el primer objeto del intelecto. La simple aprehensión del ser, su concepción, así como su comprensión es el fundamento a partir del cual se puede plantear la cuestión de su sentido.

A systematic review and classification of interventions for speech-sound disorder in preschool children.

BACKGROUND: Multiple interventions have been developed to address speech sound disorder (SSD) in children. Many of these have been evaluated but the evidence for these has not been considered within a model which categorizes types of intervention. The opportunity to carry out a systematic review of interventions for SSD arose as part of a larger scale study of interventions for primary speech and language impairment in preschool children. AIMS: To review systematically the evidence for interventions for SSD in preschool children and to categorize them within a classification of interventions for SSD. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Relevant search terms were used to identify intervention studies published up to 2012, with the following inclusion criteria: participants were aged between 2 years and 5 years, 11 months; they exhibited speech, language and communication needs; and a primary outcome measure of speech was used. Studies that met inclusion criteria were quality appraised using the single case experimental design (SCED) or PEDro-P, depending on their methodology. Those judged to be high quality were classified according to the primary focus of intervention. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The final review included 26 studies. Case series was the most common research design. Categorization to the classification system for interventions showed that cognitive-linguistic and production approaches to intervention were the most frequently reported. The highest graded evidence was for three studies within the auditory-perceptual and integrated categories. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The evidence for intervention for preschool children with SSD is focused on seven out of 11 subcategories of interventions. Although all the studies included in the review were good quality as defined by quality appraisal checklists, they mostly represented lower-graded evidence. Higher-graded studies are needed to understand clearly the strength of evidence for different interventions.

Towards a formal genealogical classification of the Lezgian languages (North Caucasus): testing various phylogenetic methods on lexical data.

A lexicostatistical classification is proposed for 20 languages and dialects of the Lezgian group of the North Caucasian family, based on meticulously compiled 110-item wordlists, published as part of the Global Lexicostatistical Database project. The lexical data have been subsequently analyzed with the aid of the principal phylogenetic methods, both distance-based and character-based: Starling neighbor joining (StarlingNJ), Neighbor joining (NJ), Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), Unweighted maximum parsimony (UMP). Cognation indexes within the input matrix were marked by two different algorithms: traditional etymological approach and phonetic similarity, i.e., the automatic method of consonant classes (Levenshtein distances). Due to certain reasons (first of all, high lexicographic quality of the wordlists and a consensus about the Lezgian phylogeny among Caucasologists), the Lezgian database is a perfect testing area for appraisal of phylogenetic methods. For the etymology-based input matrix, all the phylogenetic methods, with the possible exception of UMP, have yielded trees that are sufficiently compatible with each other to generate a consensus phylogenetic tree of the Lezgian lects. The obtained consensus tree agrees with the traditional expert classification as well as some of the previously proposed formal classifications of this linguistic group. Contrary to theoretical expectations, the UMP method has suggested the least plausible tree of all. In the case of the phonetic similarity-based input matrix, the distance-based methods (StarlingNJ, NJ, UPGMA) have produced the trees that are rather close to the consensus etymology-based tree and the traditional expert classification, whereas the character-based methods (Bayesian MCMC, UMP) have yielded less likely topologies.

Coevolution of languages and genes.

The evolution of languages shares certain characteristics with that of genes, such as the predominantly vertical line of transmission and the retention of traces of past events such as contact. Thus, studies of language phylogenies and their correlations with genetic phylogenies can enrich our understanding of human prehistory, while insights gained from genetic studies of past population contact can help shed light on the processes underlying language contact and change. As demonstrated by recent research, these evolutionary processes are more complex than simple models of gene-language coevolution predict, with linguistic boundaries only occasionally functioning as barriers to gene flow. More frequently, admixture takes place irrespective of linguistic differences, but with a detectable impact of contact-induced changes in the languages concerned.

Semi-supervised morphosyntactic classification of Old Icelandic.

We present IceMorph, a semi-supervised morphosyntactic analyzer of Old Icelandic. In addition to machine-read corpora and dictionaries, it applies a small set of declension prototypes to map corpus words to dictionary entries. A web-based GUI allows expert users to modify and augment data through an online process. A machine learning module incorporates prototype data, edit-distance metrics, and expert feedback to continuously update part-of-speech and morphosyntactic classification. An advantage of the analyzer is its ability to achieve competitive classification accuracy with minimum training data.

Evidence for the identification of Carabayo, the language of an uncontacted people of the Colombian Amazon, as belonging to the Tikuna-Yurí linguistic family.

This paper provides evidence for the identification of the language of the uncontacted indigenous group called Carabayo, who live in voluntary isolation in the Colombian Amazon region. The only linguistic data available from this group is a set of about 50 words, most of them without reliable translations, that were collected in 1969 during a brief encounter with one Carabayo family. We compare this material with various languages (once) spoken in the region, showing that four attested Carabayo forms (a first person singular prefix and words for 'warm', 'father', and 'boy') display striking similarities with Yurí and at least 13 Carabayo forms display clear correspondences with contemporary Tikuna. Tikuna and Yurí are the only two known members of the Tikuna-Yurí linguistic family. Yurí was documented in the 19th century but has been thought to have become extinct since. We conclude that the Carabayo--directly or indirectly--descend from the Yurí people whose language and customs were described by explorers in the 19th century, before they took up voluntary isolation, escaping atrocities during the rubber boom in the early 20th century.

What complexity differences reveal about domains in language.

An important distinction between phonology and syntax has been overlooked. All phonological patterns belong to the regular region of the Chomsky Hierarchy, but not all syntactic patterns do. We argue that the hypothesis that humans employ distinct learning mechanisms for phonology and syntax currently offers the best explanation for this difference.

Classification of cell signalling in tissue development.

The traditional classification of signalling in biological systems is insufficient and outdated and novel efforts must take into account advances in systems theory, information theory and linguistics. We present some of the classification systems currently used both within and outside of the biological field and discuss some specific aspects of the nature of signalling in tissue development. The analytical methods used in understanding non-biological networks provide a valuable vocabulary, which requires integration and a system of classification to further facilitate development.

Quantitative digital and palmar dermatoglyphics among Sardinian linguistic groups.

Discriminant analyses of 23 digital and 15 palmar quantitative dermatoglyphic variables of 1364 Sardinians, 689 males and 675 females, were performed to identify biological relationships among five Sardinian linguistic groups of both sexes. By various subsets of dermatoglyphic variables (23 and 20 digital, 15 and 14 palmar, 4 summary traits) MANOVA revealed high intergroup heterogeneity among the groups of both sexes and within each sex. In the latter case the males are an exception when 15 and 14 (MLI removed) palmar variables are used. Standard discriminant analysis of the 23 digital variables, i.e. the radial and ulnar ridge counts on each of the 10 fingers plus total finger ridge count (TFRC), absolute finger ridge count (AFRC) and pattern intensity (PI), resulted in imperfect separation of males and females and an unclear picture of the biological relationships among the groups. In contrast, standard discriminant analysis of 20 digital variables (TFRC, AFRC and PI were removed from the analysis) resulted in separation of the sexes and a pattern of relationships among the populations consistent with their ethno-historical backgrounds. Standard discriminant analysis of 15 palmar dermatoglyphic variables failed to provide separation of the sexes and produced a pattern of relationships in disagreement with both the linguistic and ethno-historical backgrounds, even removing MLI (Main Line Index). Standard discriminant analysis of 4 summary dermatoglyphic variables (TFRC, AFRC, PI and MLI) yielded imperfect separation of males and females and an unclear pattern of relationships. By stepwise discriminant analysis with p < or = 0.01 as F-to-enter and p < or = 0.05 as F-to-remove, only 4 of the 38 digital and palmar variables were in the model (URC R5, RRC L5, RRC R5, URC R4). The pattern of inter-population biological relationships was conceptually similar to the one produced by the 20 digital variables. It showed a clear separation of the Gallurian group (both males and females), which speaks an Italian dialect. The properly Sardinian linguistic groups (Campidanian and Logudorian), the Sassarian group (which speaks an Italian dialect) and the Alghero group (which speaks Catalan) were close to one another. This picture agrees with the ethno-historical background rather than with the linguistic one.

Asian and non-Asian origins of Mon-Khmer- and Mundari-speaking Austro-Asiatic populations of India.

In the present study, we analyzed 1,686 samples from 31 tribal populations of India for the mitochondrial DNA 9-base-pair deletion/insertion polymorphism, and characterized them based on the relevant mitochondrial DNA coding-region single nucleotide polymorphisms and hypervariable region I motifs, to test the genetic origins of the ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous Austro-Asiatic tribes of India. A comparative analysis of our results with the existing data suggests multiple origins of Austro-Asiatic tribes in India, and particularly the Asian and non-Asian origins of the Mon-Khmer and the Mundari populations. We also identified a novel subclade of haplogroup B in the Mon-Khmer Khasi tribes that distinguishes them from the Nicobarese, indicating two different waves of migration of the Mon-Khmer tribes in India.

Inter-sex and intra-sex differences in quantitative digital dermatoglyphics of Sardinian-speaking groups.

In this study, we analysed inter-sex differences within two linguistic groups from the Sardinian linguistic area and intra-sex differences between the two groups by means of 41 quantitative digital dermatoglyphic variables: 20 digital dermatoglyphic traits (radial and ulnar ridge counts on each of the 10 fingers), 15 digital dermatoglyphic directional asymmetry variables, total finger ridge count, bilateral summed radial and ulnar finger ridge counts, an index of asymmetry between homologous fingers, and two indices of intra-individual diversity of finger ridge counts. The comparisons between males and females within the same linguistic groups and between the males of the two groups and the females of the two groups were carried out with the Mann-Whitney test at a prefixed level of alpha = 0.05, using the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. The results indicate a strong similarity of the two linguistic groups in the inter-sex differences, whereas there are no significant differences between them for either males or females. The similar pattern of sexual dimorphism and the homogeneity of the males and females of the two groups suggest a common genetic matrix of these Sardinian-speaking groups.

Microsatellite diversity among three endogamous Tamil populations suggests their origin from a separate Dravidian genetic pool.

The genetic profiles based on 15 autosomal microsatellite markers were analyzed among three socially distinct endogamous Dravidian populations: Tanjore Kallar, Vanniyar, and Pallar of Tamil Nadu, southern India, in order to understand their origin and the extent of genetic affinity and diversity among them. All loci were highly polymorphic and followed Hardy-Weinberg expectations except for loci D13S317 in Tanjore Kallars and D7S820 in Vanniyars. The SK2 criterion test showed no evidence of association among the 15 loci in the studied populations. The extent of gene differentiation among the three populations was low (G(ST) = 0.012), suggesting proximity between them. The phylogenetic dendrogram based on allele frequencies places them in a separate cluster, away from other compared Indo-European populations. The fit of the Harpending and Ward model of regression was found to be good and consistent with the extent of endogamy followed by the respective populations. These findings support a separate origin of the Dravidians and reveal an overall genetic unity among the studied Tamil populations belonging to different strata of the social hierarchy. The extent of diversity found among them probably resulted from the strict endogamous practices that they follow.

Garden path repair: diagnosis and triage.

Meng and Bader (2000b) have shown that for garden-path repair in German, case is a more effective cue than number. They argue that sensitivity to the nature of the cue supports a diagnosis model of garden path repair such as we have proposed. However, in making this argument Meng and Bader introduced a new notion of diagnosis. Retaining the original "basic" diagnosis system, they added a new function that we call triage. Triage determines the probable revisability of a structure, in order to decide whether to make the effort of trying to reanalyze it. To determine whether triage is a feature of human parsing, its scope must be established. We compare four hypotheses about how much work triage could do. A powerful triage component would succeed where the human parser fails. Limited local triage does no work if symptom effectiveness varies within a language. An intermediate hypothesis discriminates better between easy and difficult revisions. However, this variant of triage with the strongest claim to psychological reality is the most difficult to distinguish from no triage at all, since it shares important properties with basic diagnosis. We identify some empirical predictions that differentiate diagnosis with triage from simple basic diagnosis. What little evidence there is at present suggests that the human sentence parser has no triage capability.