Watch Your Language Blog

In China, watch how you say "ma"

In Mandarin, the syllable "ma" infused with different tones can result in different meanings, from horse to mother to a question mark. We blogged about Pirahã (another tonal language) earlier, and talking about tones; the internet is buzzing today with new research findings about the relationship between genetics and tonal / nontonal languages. According to two linguists from the University of Edinburgh, "people who carry particular variants of two genes involved in brain development tend to speak nontonal languages such as English, while those with a different genetic profile are more likely to speak tonal languages such as Chinese."

Robert Ladd, who led the research, is quick to inform that their findings do not suggest causality between genetic makeup and ability to speak tonal languages: "What we have found, though, suggests that these genes might have a very small effect on individuals, and a larger effect on the populations in which they live. As the language is passed on culturally, it would then be more likely to develop along one path than the other."

(Via link). (ELHAM)


May 30, 2007