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Anthropology

Language evolution in China

Nature Human Behaviour (2024)Cite this article

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The impetus behind the development of various Chinese dialects is as yet unknown. In a comprehensive quantitative coanalysis of linguistic and genetic data across China, Yang et al. find evidence to suggest that demographic diffusion, cultural diffusion and linguistic assimilation all contributed to the expansive diversity of Chinese dialects.

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Fig. 1: Evolutionary driving forces that contribute to the diversity of Chinese dialects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Yu Xu & Chuan-Chao Wang

  2. Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, Institute of Anthropology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Sciences in Bioanthropology, School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Chuan-Chao Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Chuan-Chao Wang

  4. Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

    Chuan-Chao Wang

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  1. Yu Xu
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  2. Chuan-Chao Wang
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Correspondence to Chuan-Chao Wang.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Xu, Y., Wang, CC. Language evolution in China. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01898-5

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