28.4700, Calls: Anthro Ling, Gen Ling, Genetic Classification, Historical Ling, Typology/Estonia

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-28-4700. Thu Nov 09 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.4700, Calls: Anthro Ling, Gen Ling, Genetic Classification, Historical Ling, Typology/Estonia

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Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:04:27
From: Antonio Benítez-Burraco [abenitez8 at us.es]
Subject: Linking genetic and linguistic diversities

 
Full Title: Linking genetic and linguistic diversities 

Date: 29-Aug-2018 - 01-Sep-2018
Location: Tallinn, Estonia 
Contact Person: Antonio Benítez-Burraco
Meeting Email: abenitez8 at us.es

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; General Linguistics; Genetic Classification; Historical Linguistics; Typology 

Call Deadline: 14-Nov-2017 

Meeting Description:

The  sequencing of genomes from present-day human groups on a massive scale
(e.g. the 1000-Genomes Project) suggests that the genetic foundations of
language (that is, the set of genes that regulate the aspects of brain
development, wiring, and function important for language acquisition and
processing and the organs necessary for its production and perception) may not
be uniform across the species and that variants of many of these genes may
influence language knowledge and use by the neurotypical population. This is
in line with recent research suggesting that cognitive differences among human
populations are not only due to cultural and sociological forces, but also to
genetic changes in response to different environments and ecological niches.
Overall, this opens the possibility that aspects of language known to vary
cross-linguistically, like morphosyntax or phonology, may be a response to the
environment in which human groups live possibly mediated by some kind of
genetic changes.

At the same time, this kind of genetic variation (but also the variation
resulting from the sequencing of the genomes of early anatomically-modern
humans) allows us to infer aspects of human groups dynamics (population size,
social structure, mating behaviors, etc.) that are known to influence the
structure of languages and language complexity. Accordingly, the study of
genetic variation may also help refine our view of language change in the past
and the ecology of present-day languages.

Specific research questions to be addressed include (but are not limited to):

- Patterns of global linguistic diversity compared to genetic diversity
- Ecological factors accounting for language diversity (with a potential
impact on genetic diversity and vice versa)
- Genetic analysis of socio-cultural factors accounting for language diversity
- Gene-culture co-evolution and language diversity
- Using genetic diversity for making inferences about language change in the
past 
- The adaptive value of linguistic diversity


Call for Papers:

If you are interested in contributing to this workshop, we kindly ask you to
send a short abstract (up to 300 words), along with the name(s),
affiliation(s) and contact information of all co-authors, to Antonio
Benítez-Burraco (abenitez8 at us.es) before November 14 2017. If the workshop
proposal is accepted, all the contributors will have to submit a full version
of their abstracts to the SLE committee as specified in the conference
guideline http://sle2018.eu/submission-guidelines




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