Mother tongue may be determined by genes, says study
Our mother tongue may be determined by our genes, according to a study by a Scottish linguist.
It was thought that the differences between Chinese, English and other major world languages had only evolved due to historical geographical barriers.
But now an Edinburgh University linguist has found evidence that these languages have also been shaped by tiny differences in our DNA.
Professor Bob Ladd is attempting to unravel the mystery of two recently-evolved genes, known to affect the growth and development of the brain.
They are ASPM-1, which first appeared 5800 years ago, and Microcephalin-1, which arose about 37,000 years ago.
The genes are common in Europe and North Africa, but rare in east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa - areas where "tonal" languages, which use pitch changes to convey the meaning of words, are common.
Mr Ladd said: "Our study is the first to demonstrate a clear correlation.
"If we can prove the link is causal, then we have definitely gained a new insight into how languages differ around the world. There may also be other aspects of language and culture which have their roots in the genes."
The study is published
today in the scientific journal PNAS.
Mr Ladd speculates the genes may influence how our mind perceives tone, but he admits that proving this will require further studies.
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Posted by: donald anderson, glasgow on 8:22am Tue 29 May 07
Whit?
Posted by: Maven, US on 7:08pm Tue 29 May 07
How does this account for Caucasians born and raised in China or Japan and becoming native speakers of Chinese and Japanese? I have met several, and their Chinese and Japanese friends assure me their language is indistinguishable from a Chinese or Japanese person's. The role of genes in the development of certain languages and in specific language acquisition seems doubtful, at least based on this evidence.
How does this account for Caucasians born and raised in China or Japan and becoming native speakers of Chinese and Japanese? I have met several, and their Chinese and Japanese friends assure me their language is indistinguishable from a Chinese or Japanese person's. The role of genes in the development of certain languages and in specific language acquisition seems doubtful, at least based on this evidence.
Posted by: Stephen, Glasgow on 8:33pm Tue 29 May 07
Maven, I understood this article to be dealing with the origin of language "with a clean slate" whilst the human species was developing - ie, what caused eastern humans to develop a tonal based language differently from western. It seems to me quite possible that genetics could influence our ability to perceive tone and could therefore influence the emergence of language in the species accordingly due to innate preceptive abilities and preferences, which might explain why western languages are not tonal but some eastern ones are, but it wouldn't apply where the language is already well developed and the individual learned it through experience or study as in the scenario you outline.
Maven, I understood this article to be dealing with the origin of language "with a clean slate" whilst the human species was developing - ie, what caused eastern humans to develop a tonal based language differently from western. It seems to me quite possible that genetics could influence our ability to perceive tone and could therefore influence the emergence of language in the species accordingly due to innate preceptive abilities and preferences, which might explain why western languages are not tonal but some eastern ones are, but it wouldn't apply where the language is already well developed and the individual learned it through experience or study as in the scenario you outline.
Posted by: Michael Maxwell, Maryland on 4:00am Wed 30 May 07
Tone languages are also common in South America, and some language families of North America. They are not common in South Asia (India), nor in the Philippines, nor are Japanese or Mongolian tonal. And many languages have become tone languages more recently, e.g. Swedish, Punjabi (the latter one of the few tone languages of South Asia), Yucatec (but not the other Mayan languages). Some Tibetan languages are, others are not.
In other words, the dichotomy which this study apparently assumes (East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa vs. Europe and North Africa) is only a vague generalization.
Tone languages are also common in South America, and some language families of North America. They are not common in South Asia (India), nor in the Philippines, nor are Japanese or Mongolian tonal. And many languages have become tone languages more recently, e.g. Swedish, Punjabi (the latter one of the few tone languages of South Asia), Yucatec (but not the other Mayan languages). Some Tibetan languages are, others are not.
In other words, the dichotomy which this study apparently assumes (East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa vs. Europe and North Africa) is only a vague generalization.
Posted by: ParisLoyal, Paris on 2:46pm Wed 30 May 07
Does this mean that the wee boy or lassie with parents from Sub Saharan Africa or China cannot or will not speak with a broad Glasgow Accent if they grow up in the environs of Govan?
Sorry but the influence on pronunciation (not language) is almost entirely due to where you are brought up! (Kelvinside, Gorbals, Bora Bora) although how your parents speak does influence the end result.
Mr Ladd speculates the genes may influence how our mind perceives tone, but he admits that proving this will require further studies. - is research speak for "give me another nice grant to support myself and make my life comfortable studying something that is not of the least bit of use to the people who fund me!!! "
Does this mean that the wee boy or lassie with parents from Sub Saharan Africa or China cannot or will not speak with a broad Glasgow Accent if they grow up in the environs of Govan?
Sorry but the influence on pronunciation (not language) is almost entirely due to where you are brought up! (Kelvinside, Gorbals, Bora Bora) although how your parents speak does influence the end result.
Mr Ladd speculates the genes may influence how our mind perceives tone, but he admits that proving this will require further studies. - is research speak for "give me another nice grant to support myself and make my life comfortable studying something that is not of the least bit of use to the people who fund me!!! "
Posted by: Vanessa, St. Paul, MN, USA on 7:10pm Wed 13 Jun 07
This study is not as deterministic as either this summary or the "news" article that is linked says it is. This study only builds on what evolution has already taught us: geographic barriers create genetic change within and between species. Somewhere along the evolutionary timeline, populations of humans (other animals, birds, bacteria, species of plants, etc.) spread over the landscape of earth, interacting with new terrain, new animals, new birds, new bacteria, new species of plants. As humans moved and kept evolving, their adaptations in genes (others include the genes for sickle-cell anemia or more melanin) changed with them and became more distinct as they moved farther away from populations they had once been close to. At the advent of language for the human species, as I've heard both linguistic and evolutionary anthropology professors say, humans were spread all over the world with many geographic features including waters, mountains, and distance separating them. At this point their genes were different from humans far away, and since language is symbolic and abitrary, of course their languages would be much different too.
This study claims that there may be a gene that could make the understanding and learning of a typologically different language than one of their distant ancestors may be more difficult. Many other factors such as a language learners speaking environment, chemical imbalances, retardation, drug and alcohol use, poor nutrition, (the list of other factors goes ON!) can also affect the ease with which s/he learns a foreign language. A good reason why this scientific research was not originally posted on a popular blog was because people who choose to get their science from blog summaries and news websites don't do enough research to see that their questions could all be answered in the original academic article.
This study is not as deterministic as either this summary or the "news" article that is linked says it is. This study only builds on what evolution has already taught us: geographic barriers create genetic change within and between species. Somewhere along the evolutionary timeline, populations of humans (other animals, birds, bacteria, species of plants, etc.) spread over the landscape of earth, interacting with new terrain, new animals, new birds, new bacteria, new species of plants. As humans moved and kept evolving, their adaptations in genes (others include the genes for sickle-cell anemia or more melanin) changed with them and became more distinct as they moved farther away from populations they had once been close to. At the advent of language for the human species, as I've heard both linguistic and evolutionary anthropology professors say, humans were spread all over the world with many geographic features including waters, mountains, and distance separating them. At this point their genes were different from humans far away, and since language is symbolic and abitrary, of course their languages would be much different too.
This study claims that there may be a gene that could make the understanding and learning of a typologically different language than one of their distant ancestors may be more difficult. Many other factors such as a language learners speaking environment, chemical imbalances, retardation, drug and alcohol use, poor nutrition, (the list of other factors goes ON!) can also affect the ease with which s/he learns a foreign language. A good reason why this scientific research was not originally posted on a popular blog was because people who choose to get their science from blog summaries and news websites don't do enough research to see that their questions could all be answered in the original academic article.
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