Roots of cultural and linguistic traits

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Galor, Oded; Ozak, Omer; Sarid, Assaf
• 署名单位: Brown University; National Bureau of Economic Research; IZA Institute Labor Economics; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; Southern Methodist University; University of Haifa
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueaf117
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: language evolution; origins; expansion; selection; worlds

摘要

This paper examines the roots of the coevolution of cultural and linguistic traits. It advances the hypothesis and empirically establishes that geographical characteristics conducive to the emergence of fundamental cultural traits triggered the evolution of complementary linguistic traits, thereby reinforcing their adaptation process. In particular, (i) higher caloric returns to agriculture, which fostered engagement in farming and the evolution of long-term orientation, have been conducive to the prevalence of periphrastic future tense; (ii) land suitability for plough use, which generated gender gaps in agricultural productivity and entrenched gender bias in society, has been associated with the existence of sex-based grammatical gender; and (iii) ecological diversity, which promoted the establishment of hierarchical societies, has been conducive to the presence of politeness distinctions.