Nominal classification systems such as grammatical gender (for example, the masculine/feminine distinction in French) and noun classes (for example, Bantu noun classes based on categories like fruits, plants, liquids) offer insight into how the human brain perceives and categorizes the objects and experiences it encounters. While the diachronic development of grammatical gender systems is well studied, noun class systems have received less attention. We (Neige Rochant, Marc-Allassonnière-Tang, Chundra Cathcart) use comparative phylogenetic methods to analyze the evolution of the loci of noun class marking (nouns, pronouns, demonstratives, articles, adjectives, numerals, and verbs) in thirty-six languages of the Atlantic family (Niger-Congo phylum). We approach this question from three different angles: (1) the stability of noun class marking on different loci, (2) the co-evolutionary behavior of noun class marking on different loci, and (3) the incrementality of the acquisition and loss of noun class marking.
https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/98587589351?pwd=Alq713970KJNOvqyFEy7WOMmdgSfxK.1
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Development Neurocognition Disorders
Linguistic Diversity and its Sources
