[Ads-l] Study of Cantonese lexical tone shows language evolution possibly linked to genes

[Mark Mandel]

Forgot to include this:

 More information: Patrick C. M. Wong et al. ASPM-lexical tone association
in speakers of a tone language: Direct evidence for the genetic-biasing
hypothesis of language evolution, Science Advances (2020). DOI:
10.1126/sciadv.aba5090

MAM

On Fri, May 29, 2020, 1:10 AM Mark Mandel <markamandel at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> https://phys.org/news/2020-05-cantonese-lexical-tone-language-evolution.html
>
>
> *Study of Cantonese lexical tone shows language evolution possibly linked
> to genes*
>
> May 28, 2020, Chinese University of Hong Kong
> Credit: CC0 Public Domain
>
> A research group led by Professor Patrick Chun Man Wong, Stanley Ho
> Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience of the Department of Linguistics and
> Modern Languages, recruited more than 400 native speakers of Cantonese for
> a study. The results show that participants with a specific genotype of the
> ASPM gene are better at perceiving lexical tone in Cantonese, and those
> without it may improve their abilities through musical training. The
> research offers clear evidence for the hypothesis that subtle differences
> in genetic makeup may form the basis of languages people speak in different
> regions of the world. In this case, because most Chinese people have an
> ASPM genotype that favors lexical tone processing, they adopted lexical
> tone in their language. The findings were recently published in the journal
> Science Advances.
>
>
> --MAM
>
>
>

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