Phoneme inventory size and population size
Language • Vol/Iss. 83(2) • Linguistic Society of America • • Published In • Pages: 388-400 •
By Hay, Jennifer, Bauer, Laurie
Hypothesis
Language family and population size both predict phoneme inventory size.
Note
The correlation remained significant after bootstrap validation model was used (adjusted r^2= .22) and when the mean population of each language family was tested against the mean number of phonemes (p<.003, rho = .46).
| Test Name | Support | Significance | Coefficient | Tail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary least squares regression | Supported | p< .01 | Adjusted r^2= .24 | UNKNOWN |
| Variable Name | Variable Type | OCM Term(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Language Family | Independent | Linguistic Identification |
| Phonemes | Dependent | Phonology |