Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages
Bayesian phylogenetic analysis supports an agricultural origin of Japonic languages
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2011.0518
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发表时间：
2011-12-22
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Hasegawa, Toshikazu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lee, Sean;Hasegawa, Toshikazu
语言，就像基因一样，是通过遗传和修改的过程进化而来的。生物进化和语言进化之间惊人的相似性使我们能够运用系统发育的方法来探索语言以及说这些语言的人在进化史上是如何相互关联的。迄今为止，根据词汇数据构建的语言系统发展史揭示了南岛语、印欧语和班图语使用者的人口扩张。然而，系统发育方法如何强有力地描绘语言进化的历史，以及语言系统发育揭示了人类史前的什么，必须在全球范围内进行更彻底的研究。在这里，我们报告了59种日本语言和方言的系统发育。我们使用这一系统发育来估计其根的时间深度，并将其与日本起源的农业扩张情景所建议的时间进行比较。与这一假设一致，我们的研究结果表明，日本语言大约在2182年前起源于一个共同的祖先。结合考古和生物学证据，我们的研究结果表明，日本的第一批农民对人和语言的起源都产生了深远的影响。在更广泛的层面上，我们的结果与农业扩张是塑造全球语言多样性的主要因素的理论是一致的。
Languages, like genes, evolve by a process of descent with modification. This striking similarity between biological and linguistic evolution allows us to apply phylogenetic methods to explore how languages, as well as the people who speak them, are related to one another through evolutionary history. Language phylogenies constructed with lexical data have so far revealed population expansions of Austronesian, Indo-European and Bantu speakers. However, how robustly a phylogenetic approach can chart the history of language evolution and what language phylogenies reveal about human prehistory must be investigated more thoroughly on a global scale. Here we report a phylogeny of 59 Japonic languages and dialects. We used this phylogeny to estimate time depth of its root and compared it with the time suggested by an agricultural expansion scenario for Japanese origin. In agreement with the scenario, our results indicate that Japonic languages descended from a common ancestor approximately 2182 years ago. Together with archaeological and biological evidence, our results suggest that the first farmers of Japan had a profound impact on the origins of both people and languages. On a broader level, our results are consistent with a theory that agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity.