Dan Dediu

The project extends my previous work connecting biology with language diversity and evolution using an inter-disciplinary and data-driven quantitative approach. My previous project, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, investigated the influence of vocal tract anatomy on phonetic and phonological cross-linguistic diversity using a variety of approaches, and will be extended here in two main directions: (i) As biology and environment are intimately inter-twined, what role do environmental factors (such as climate, vegetation cover, subsistence) play in affecting language change and cross-linguistic phonetic and phonological diversities? (ii) Weak inter-individual biases (biological or otherwise), amplified by the repeated use and transmission of language, may result in cross-linguistic diversity, but do they also contribute to linguistic complexity?

Direction (i) will focus on identifying environmental factors that may affect the vocal tract, building on the methodology and candidates generated by my previous project. This will be a hybrid approach that combines both a priori and exploratory analyses, with the main methodological approach being the statistical analysis of large databases possibly supplemented by computational simulations.

Direction (ii) is more exploratory as it is unknown if weak extra-linguistic biases can affect linguistic complexity and its cross-linguistic patterning. Therefore, this will involve brain-storming sessions with scientists from several disciplines using different methodologies, followed by the analysis of the predictions in large databases and through computer modeling.

The project is an extension of my research program so far into the effects of the environment and the influence of weak extra-linguistic biases on linguistic complexity. While being eminently exploratory, there are several a priori predictions generated by previous research that will be tested using data-driven quantitative methods. The outcomes will help clarify those properties of sound systems that are shaped by the environment mediated by the human vocal tract, and will approach the evolution of linguistic complexity from a new perspective that brings culturally amplified weak biases into focus. The long-term impact of the project will be on advancing an already successful inter-disciplinary research program and on expanding the multifaceted understanding of the complex processes shaping human language.