Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history

Mark Pagel, Quentin D. Atkinson & Andrew Meade (2007). Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history. Nature, 449,717-720. RAE2008

Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history

Greek speakers say "ovpa", Germans "schwanz'' and the French "queue'' to describe what English speakers call a 'tail', but all of these languages use a related form of 'two' to describe the number after one. Among more than 100 Indo-European languages and dialects, the words for some meanings (such as 'tail') evolve rapidly, being expressed across languages by dozens of unrelated words, while others evolve much more slowly-such as the number 'two', for which all Indo-European language speakers use the same related word-form(1). No general linguistic mechanism has been advanced to explain this striking variation in rates of lexical replacement among meanings. Here we use four large and divergent language corpora (English(2), Spanish(3), Russian(4) and Greek(5)) and a comparative database of 200 fundamental vocabulary meanings in 87 Indo-European languages(6) to show that the frequency with which these words are used in modern language predicts their rate of replacement over thousands of years of Indo-European language evolution. Across all 200 meanings, frequently used words evolve at slower rates and infrequently used words evolve more rapidly. This relationship holds separately and identically across parts of speech for each of the four language corpora, and accounts for approximately 50% of the variation in historical rates of lexical replacement. We propose that the frequency with which specific words are used in everyday language exerts a general and law-like influence on their rates of evolution. Our findings are consistent with social models of word change that emphasize the role of selection, and suggest that owing to the ways that humans use language, some words will evolve slowly and others rapidly across all languages.

Electro-telegraphic longitude operations executed during the years 1894-95-96. The Indo-European arcs from Karachi to Greenwich.

Publisher's lettering: G. T. Survey of India. vol. XVII. The electro-telegraphic longitude operations.

Grimm's law: a study, or hints towards an explanation of the so-called "lautverschiebung"; to which are added some remarks on the primitive Indo-European k and several appendices.

Mode of access: Internet.

Unidades organizativas indígenas del área indoeuropea de Hispania III: addenda

[ES] Se ofrecen los nuevos nombres, repetidos o no, de unidades organizativas indígenas (cognationes, gentes y gentilitates) aparecidos desde la década de los 90 del pasado siglo y documentados en la epigrafía latina y celtibérica de la Hispania indoeuropea

Die Patronymica im Alt-Indischen /

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Basel, 1903.

Ancient Celtic Place-Names in Europe and Asia Minor: Publications of the Philological Society, 39

Sims-Williams, P. (2006). Ancient Celtic Place-Names in Europe and Asia Minor: Publications of the Philological Society, 39. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. RAE2008

'Sliabh in Irish place-names' in Nomina 32 (2009)

This article deals with one of the most common elements in names of Irish hills and mountains. The grammar, phonology, etymology, semantic range and chronology of the element are examined. Sliabh is particularly complex in terms of its semantic range, which includes the following senses: 1) a mountain or hill (standing alone or forming part of a range); 2) a range of hills or mountains; 3) an moor or area of upland. The word is present in the earliest attested stages of the Irish language, and there is some evidence for all three meanings in Old Irish, though senses 1 and 2 are best attested. It is suggested that the view advanced by MacBain and Thurneysen that sliabh is etymologically related to Eng. slope and that this reflects its original meaning is open to some doubt in view of the lack of evidence for this sense in early Irish and the lack of clear cognates in other branches of Celtic and Indo-European languages.

Lenguas y genes: aplicaciones a la prehistoria de la lengua vasca

Homenaje a Ignacio Barandiarán Maestu / coord. por Javier Fernández Eraso, Juan Santos Yanguas.