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Linguistic Heterogeneity (linguistic + heterogeneity)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Trust, Inequality and Ethnic Heterogeneity

THE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 258 2006
ANDREW LEIGH
Using a large Australian social survey, combined with precise data on neighbourhood characteristics, I explore the factors that affect trust at a local level (,localised trust') and at a national level (,generalised trust'). Trust is positively associated with the respondent's education, and negatively associated with the amount of time spent commuting. At a neighbourhood level, trust is higher in affluent areas, and lower in ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous communities, with the effect being stronger for linguistic heterogeneity than ethnic heterogeneity. Linguistic heterogeneity reduces localised trust for both natives and immigrants, and reduces generalised trust only for immigrants. Instrumental variables specifications show similar results. In contrast to the USA, there is no apparent relationship between trust and inequality across neighbourhoods in Australia. [source]

Searching for the origin of Gagauzes: Inferences from Y-chromosome analysis

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Alexander Varzari
The Gagauzes are a small Turkish-speaking ethnic group living mostly in southern Moldova and northeastern Bulgaria. The origin of the Gagauzes is obscure. They may be descendants of the Turkic nomadic tribes from the Eurasian steppes, as suggested by the "Steppe" hypothesis, or have a complex Anatolian-steppe origin, as postulated by the "Seljuk" or "Anatolian" hypothesis. To distinguish these hypotheses, a sample of 89 Y-chromosomes representing two Gagauz populations from the Republic of Moldova was analyzed for 28 binary and seven STR polymorphisms. In the gene pool of the Gagauzes a total of 15 Y-haplogroups were identified, the most common being I-P37 (20.2%), R-M17 (19.1%), G-M201 (13.5%), R-M269 (12.4%), and E-M78 (11.1%). The present Gagauz populations were compared with other Balkan, Anatolian, and Central Asian populations by means of genetic distances, nonmetric multidimentional scaling and analyses of molecular variance. The analyses showed that Gagauzes belong to the Balkan populations, suggesting that the Gagauz language represents a case of language replacement in southeastern Europe. Interestingly, the detailed study of microsatellite haplotypes revealed some sharing between the Gagauz and Turkish lineages, providing some support of the hypothesis of the "Seljuk origin" of the Gagauzes. The faster evolving microsatellite loci showed that the two Gagauz samples investigated do not represent a homogeneous group. This finding matches the cultural and linguistic heterogeneity of the Gagauzes well, suggesting a crucial role of social factors in shaping the Gagauz Y-chromosome pool and possibly also of effects of genetic drift. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

A multi-perspective view of genetic variation in Cameroon

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
V. Coia
Abstract In this study, we report the genetic variation of autosomal and Y-chromosomal microsatellites in a large Cameroon population dataset (a total of 11 populations) and jointly analyze novel and previous genetic data (mitochondrial DNA and protein coding loci) taking geographic and cultural factors into consideration. The complex pattern of genetic variation of Cameroon can in part be described by contrasting two geographic areas (corresponding to the northern and southern part of the country), which differ substantially in environmental, biological, and cultural aspects. Northern Cameroon populations show a greater within- and among-group diversity, a finding that reflects the complex migratory patterns and the linguistic heterogeneity of this area. A striking reduction of Y-chromosomal genetic diversity was observed in some populations of the northern part of the country (Podokwo and Uldeme), a result that seems to be related to their demographic history rather than to sampling issues. By exploring patterns of genetic, geographic, and linguistic variation, we detect a preferential correlation between genetics and geography for mtDNA. This finding could reflect a female matrimonial mobility that is less constrained by linguistic factors than in males. Finally, we apply the island model to mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal data and obtain a female-to-male migration N, ratio that was more than double in the northern part of the country. The combined effect of the propensity to inter-populational admixture of females, favored by cultural contacts, and of genetic drift acting on Y-chromosomal diversity could account for the peculiar genetic pattern observed in northern Cameroon. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Trust, Inequality and Ethnic Heterogeneity

THE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 258 2006
ANDREW LEIGH
Using a large Australian social survey, combined with precise data on neighbourhood characteristics, I explore the factors that affect trust at a local level (,localised trust') and at a national level (,generalised trust'). Trust is positively associated with the respondent's education, and negatively associated with the amount of time spent commuting. At a neighbourhood level, trust is higher in affluent areas, and lower in ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous communities, with the effect being stronger for linguistic heterogeneity than ethnic heterogeneity. Linguistic heterogeneity reduces localised trust for both natives and immigrants, and reduces generalised trust only for immigrants. Instrumental variables specifications show similar results. In contrast to the USA, there is no apparent relationship between trust and inequality across neighbourhoods in Australia. [source]