Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1991 May;6(5):151-6.
doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(91)90056-4.

What do languages tell us about human microevolution?

G Barbujani  1
Affiliations

What do languages tell us about human microevolution?

G Barbujani. Trends Ecol Evol. 1991 May.

Abstract

Analysis of cultural traits, especially from linguistic data, is increasingly being used to interpret gene-frequency variation among human populations. Evolutionary processes are inferred using two major approaches, one based on reconstruction of demographic events in time, and the other based on location of factors of evolutionary relevance in space. This review discusses some assumptions underlying these approaches, and suggests that they may lead to different, although not incompatible, conclusions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language.
    Rosser ZH, Zerjal T, Hurles ME, Adojaan M, Alavantic D, Amorim A, Amos W, Armenteros M, Arroyo E, Barbujani G, Beckman G, Beckman L, Bertranpetit J, Bosch E, Bradley DG, Brede G, Cooper G, Côrte-Real HB, de Knijff P, Decorte R, Dubrova YE, Evgrafov O, Gilissen A, Glisic S, Gölge M, Hill EW, Jeziorowska A, Kalaydjieva L, Kayser M, Kivisild T, Kravchenko SA, Krumina A, Kucinskas V, Lavinha J, Livshits LA, Malaspina P, Maria S, McElreavey K, Meitinger TA, Mikelsaar AV, Mitchell RJ, Nafa K, Nicholson J, Nørby S, Pandya A, Parik J, Patsalis PC, Pereira L, Peterlin B, Pielberg G, Prata MJ, Previderé C, Roewer L, Rootsi S, Rubinsztein DC, Saillard J, Santos FR, Stefanescu G, Sykes BC, Tolun A, Villems R, Tyler-Smith C, Jobling MA. Rosser ZH, et al. Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Dec;67(6):1526-43. doi: 10.1086/316890. Epub 2000 Nov 9. Am J Hum Genet. 2000. PMID: 11078479 Free PMC article.
  • Reassessment of global gene-language coevolution.
    Hunley K. Hunley K. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Feb 17;112(7):1919-20. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1425000112. Epub 2015 Feb 9. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015. PMID: 25675520 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • A statistical test of hypotheses on the organization and origin of the genetic code.
    Szathmáry E, Zintzaras E. Szathmáry E, et al. J Mol Evol. 1992 Sep;35(3):185-9. doi: 10.1007/BF00178593. J Mol Evol. 1992. PMID: 1518086
  • Cultural extinction in evolutionary perspective.
    Zhang H, Mace R. Zhang H, et al. Evol Hum Sci. 2021 Apr 23;3:e30. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2021.25. eCollection 2021. Evol Hum Sci. 2021. PMID: 37588546 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Population genetics of STR loci in Caucasians.
    Balding DJ, Greenhalgh M, Nichols RA. Balding DJ, et al. Int J Legal Med. 1996;108(6):300-5. doi: 10.1007/BF02432124. Int J Legal Med. 1996. PMID: 8793637
See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources