COMonCA2011033

COM.on C.A.5:e33/196-197 Online published on Dec.15, 2011.
doi:10.4236/coca.2011.51033

PROCEEDING
The relationship between molecular anthropology and linguistics in the context of chronology

Shi Yan

State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, SIBS, CAS, Shanghai 200031, China

Abstract: Historical comparative linguistics is a useful tool for classification of human populations, due to the fact that the mother language was learnt from one’s native population, and when the language is passed on through generations in different descendant populations, variations (mutations) were accumulated in different ways. The genetic material (DNA) follows the similar way as language. So the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of two populations must be speaking a language at certain time point, and having a certain range of genetic lineages. Here several reasons were listed why a molecular pedigree can be much more precisely calculated than using languages, especially when considering the time scale. An example illustrates the potential application of molecular pedigree for divergence of Sino-Tibetan populations. Also the cases when molecular pedigree does not accord to the linguistic pedigree were discussed.

在时间尺度下看分子人类学和语言学间的关系

严实

复旦大学现代人类学教育部重点实验室；中国科学院上海生命科学院计算生物学所

摘要：语言学是探索人群历史、并对人群分类的重要依据，民族和人群的分类最常见的指针就是语言。因为通常情况下，尤其在族群间交流有限时，每个人的语言均习得自其所生长的人群，尤其是其父母和家庭。族群的延续依靠其中个体的世代相传，传递过程中，一同传递的包括其遗传物质(DNA)以及各种文化特征。而语言是各文化特征中信息量最大，具有任意性(语言中某些特定特征的存在通常无特定原因，且不受明显选择)，且相对稳定的一种。文化特征，包括语言，在继承的同时会随时间而不断发生变异，这又包括了自发的变异及接触导致的变异。当从一个人群中分化出不同群体时，其子代的语言就会在继承其始祖人群的语言的基础上，分别逐渐产生新的变异。因此，比较语言学便能够通过各语言的共同和有区别的特征重构出语言间的演化关系树，而同时这棵树通常也意味着这些语言所对应的人群的演化关系。这就是通过比较语言学对人群进行分类并重构人群历史的基础。

收稿日期：2011年9月18日 修回日期：2011年10月20日 联系人：严实 biopolyhedron@gmail.com

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