Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences • Vol/Iss. 106(18) • National Academy of Sciences • Washington, D.C • Published In • Pages: 7339-7344 •
By Currie, Thomas E., Mace, Ruth

Hypothesis

Political complexity of the society in which a language is spoken will be positively associated with the geographic range of that language (7340).

Note

Subsistence strategy, plant species diversity (SPDV), mean growing season (MGS), latitude, and net primary productivity (NPP) are included as environmental and cultural controls. Although political complexity was the strongest predictor, latitude was significantly positively correlated, and MGS and NPP significantly negatively correlated, with language area.

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Multiple regressionSupportedp < 0.001UNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
LatitudeIndependentLocation
Net Primary ProductivityIndependentFlora
Political ComplexityIndependentTerritorial Organization
Language areaDependentLinguistic Identification, Location
Mean Growing SeasonIndependentClimate
Plant Species DiversityIndependentFlora