Language structure is partly determined by social structure.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Languages differ greatly both in their syntactic and morphological systems and in the social environments in which they exist. We challenge the view that language grammars are unrelated to social environments in which they are learned and used.

Methodology/principal findings

We conducted a statistical analysis of >2,000 languages using a combination of demographic sources and the World Atlas of Language Structures--a database of structural language properties. We found strong relationships between linguistic factors related to morphological complexity, and demographic/socio-historical factors such as the number of language users, geographic spread, and degree of language contact. The analyses suggest that languages spoken by large groups have simpler inflectional

SUBMITTER: Lupyan G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2798932 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature