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Comment
. 2012 Mar 2;335(6072):1042; author reply 1042.
doi: 10.1126/science.1215107.

Comment on "Phonemic diversity supports a serial founder effect model of language expansion from Africa"

T Florian Jaeger  1 , Daniel Pontillo, Peter Graff
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Comment

Comment on "Phonemic diversity supports a serial founder effect model of language expansion from Africa"

T Florian Jaeger et al. Science. .

Abstract

Atkinson (Reports, 15 April 2011, p. 346) argues that the phonological complexity of languages reflects the loss of phonemic distinctions due to successive founder events during human migration (the serial founder hypothesis). Statistical simulations show that the type I error rate of Atkinson's analysis is hugely inflated. The data at best support only a weak interpretation of the serial founder hypothesis.

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