Abstract
While global patterns of human genetic diversity are increasingly well characterized, the diversity of human languages remains less systematically described. Here, we outline the Grambank database. With over 400,000 data points and 2400 languages, Grambank is the largest comparative grammatical database available. The comprehensiveness of Grambank allows us to quantify the relative effects of genealogical inheritance and geographic proximity on the structural diversity of the world’s languages, evaluate constraints on linguistic diversity, and identify the world’s most unusual languages. An analysis of the consequences of language loss reveals that the reduction in diversity will be strikingly uneven across the major linguistic regions of the world. Without sustained efforts to document and revitalize endangered languages, our linguistic window into human history, cognition, and culture will be seriously fragmented.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Article number | eadg6175 |
| Journal | Science advances |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 16 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments:W ewouldliketothankthemanylanguageexperts,linguists,and speakers,whohaveenrichedourdatasetbysharingwithustheirexpertiseandknowledgeof particularlanguages.TheseareN.Aasmäe,A.AcostaBlanco,Y .Agbetsoamedo,C.Allen, S.Ananthanarayan,V .Apel,I.W .Arka,A.SajohBah,D.Barth,R.Bernander,R.Blokland,J.Bradley, M.Brow en, Y .Chen,J.Chen,B.Comrie,D.Creissels,M.deHeer,R.Defina,C.Delalorm,A.Marie Diagne,R.Dixon,C.Döhler,M.Donohue,M.-F .Duhamel,E.Ebitare,N.Edenmyr,N.J.Enfield, G.Fanselow,A.-M.Fehn,S.Floyd,U.-M.Forsberg,A.François,P .Geraghty,N.F .Gulyás, R.S.Hagman,H.-J.Hahm,A.Hamari,A.Hantgan,A.Harvey,T .Hedström,H.Heinsoo,C.Hendy, S.Iva,P .Jacob,I.Kapitonov,O.Kejonen,M.Khachaturyan,M.Kim,J.Kim,J.vanKleef,S.van Kleef,G.Klumpp,E.Kushnir,O.Kuznetsova,J.E.RosésLabrada,K.L.Lindsey,F .Lionnet, C.K.Lojenga,C.M.LópezLacay o, A.LópezVargas,H.Lutzenberger,A.M.Macías, A.L.Malchukov,A.Marley,O.Mehraliev,C.Meng,A.Mettouchi,A.Michaud,D.Mishchenko, M.Möller,Z.Molochieva,S.Morelli,M.Mous,Å.Næss,D.Nash,T .Nikitina,R.Oktarini,B.Olsson, D.Osgarby,S.Oskolskaya,S.Parkinson,B.Pa terson, A.Pa wley ,B.Peddington-W ebb, J.Peterson, N.PrasadPaudyal,J.LeePratchett,S.vanPutten,T .Rangelov,L.M.R.Berscia,N.Rolle,P .Roulon-Doko,A.Rumsey,E.Saar,S.Salffner,A.Savelyev,J.Schlossberg,S.Schnell,D.Schokkin, G.Segerer,F .Seidel,G.Senft,J.Siegel,J.Simpson,Y .Staschull,L.G.Takau,A.T errill, J.Thomas, B.Thurston,Y .Tr eis, L.Tr okhymenk o,M.Vanhove,H.vanderVoort,V .Vydrin,A.Vydrina, M.W alworth, J.Wilbur,V .Wilhelmsen,S.Yankson,andR.Zamponi.W ewouldalsoliketothank thespeakersandsignerswhocollaboratedwithlinguiststomakethedescriptiveworkswerely onpossible.W earealsogratefultothespouseofthelateJ.Hill,K.C.Hill,whosupportedJ.Hill beingincludedasaco-author.W ewouldalsoliketothankD.Orme—creatoroftheRpackage caper—fortechnicalassistanceinanalysisandA.BellandB.Beheimforguidanceregardingthe culturalfixationscores.Funding:ThisworkwasfundedbytheDepartmentofLinguisticand CulturalEvolutionattheMaxPlanckInstituteforEvolutionaryAnthropology,Leipzig; DepartmentofLanguageandCognitionattheMaxPlanckInstituteforPsycholinguistics, Nijmegen;RoyalSocietyofNewZealandMarsdengrant(UOA1308)toQ.D.A.andR.D.G.; AustralianResearchCouncilCentr eofExcellenceGrant(CE140100041)fortheARCCentreof ExcellencefortheDynamicsofLanguagetoN.E.,S.J.G.,andH.S.;NSFBCS-1423711,BCS-0844550,andHSD-0902114;UniversityofTurku:ResearchInfrastructureSupportGrant2018-2020toaninterdisciplinaryconsortium(mainprincipalinvestigator,P .Onkamo)toO.V .and M.N.; and European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research andinnovationprogr amme (grantagreementno.646612)toM.R.Authorcontributions: Conceptualization:S.J.G.,Q.D.A.,andR.D.G.Formalanalysis:H.S.,H.J.H.,D.E.B.,S.Pa.,A.C.,L.M., R.D.,andS.J.G.Software:H.S.,H.J.H.,D.E.B.,S.Pa.,A.C.,L.M.,R.D.,R.F ., andS.J.G.Datacuration (including revising old coding): H.S., H.J.H., H.H., J.C., J.J.L., J.L., T .W e., A.W .-M., S.Pa., D.A., G.B., S.D.,E.D.,J.E.,H.-P .G., J.A.G.,V .G., A.H.,N.H.,B.H.-R.,E.J.,E.K.,C.K.,O.K.,M.L.,M.M.,N.P ., D.P ., J.Re., S.C.R.,J.Ri.,K.K.S.,J.M.S.,R.Sc.,J.Vo.,T .W i.,H.W ., S.Y ., J.Y ., M.Y ., R.F ., andM.H.Analysisvalidation: H.S.,S.Pa.,andS.J.G.Visualization:H.S.,H.J.H.,D.E.B.,S.Pa.,R.D.,S.J.G.,andR.D.G.Datacollection
Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig; Department of Language and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen; Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden grant (UOA1308) to Q.D.A. and R.D.G.; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence Grant (CE140100041) for the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language to N.E., S.J.G., and H.S.; NSF BCS-1423711, BCS-0844550, and HSD-0902114; University of Turku: Research Infrastructure Support Grant 2018-2020 to an interdisciplinary consortium (main principal investigator, P. Onkamo) to O.V. and M.N.; and European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 646612) to M.R.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 The Authors, some rights reserved.