ABSTRACT
This paper addresses the theme of the seminar from the perspective of historical linguistics. It introduces the construct of‘language family’ and then proceeds to a discussion of contact and the dynamics of linguistic exchange among the mainlanguage families of India over several millennia. Some prevalent hypotheses to explain the creation of India as a linguisticarea are presented. The ‘substratum view’ is critically assessed. Evidence from historical linguistics in support of twodominant hypotheses – ‘the Aryan migration view’ and ‘the out-of-India hypothesis’ – is presented and briefly assessed. Inconclusion, it is observed that the current understanding in historical linguistics favours the Aryan migration view thoughthe ‘substratum view’ is questionable.
ABSTRACT
Objective To predict the pigmentation phenotypes of Chinese populations from different language families, analyze the differences and provide reference data for forensic anthropology and genetics. Methods The HIrisPlex-S multiplex amplification system with 41 loci related to pigmentation phenotypes was constructed in the laboratory, and 2 666 DNA samples of adult males of 17 populations from six language families, including Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai and Austro-Asiatic language families distributed in different regions of China were genotyped. The pigmentation phenotype category of each individual was predicted using the online prediction system （https://HIrisPlex.erasmusmc.nl/）, and then the output data were statistically analyzed. Results About 1.92% of the individuals of Asian-European admixed populations from Indo-European and Altaic language families had blue eyes and 34.29% had brown or gold hair. The phenotypes of the color of eyes and hair of other populations had no significant difference, all individuals had brown eyes and black hair. There were differences in skin color of populations of different language families and geographical areas. The Indo-European language family had the lightest skin color, and the Austro-Asiatic language family had the darkest skin color; the southwestern minority populations had a darker skin color than populations in the plain areas. Conclusion The prediction results of pigmentation phenotype of Chinese populations are consistent with the perception of the appearance of each population, proving the reliability of the system. The color of eyes and hair are mainly related to ancestral components, while the skin color shows the differences between language families, and is closely related to geographical distribution of populations.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Asian People/genetics , China , Eye Color/genetics , Forensic Anthropology , Forensic Genetics/methods , Language , Phenotype , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , Reproducibility of Results , Skin Pigmentation/geneticsABSTRACT
Objective Genotype data of nine CODIS STR loci were gathered to examine the features of population differentiation and gene flow of seven Xinjiang minorities.Methods Heterozygosity,Nei's coefficient of genetic differentiation,Nei's genetic distance and Wright's F-statistics were calculated. Statistical tests using exact method were performed to measure the level of differentiation.Phylogenetic trees were constructed by Mega;AMOVA was processed by Arlequin.R-matrix model had been applied to describe the patterns of gene flow.Results It shows that average genetic heterogeneity for each population was above 0.7 with genetic differentiation coefficient below 2%.Statistical tests for population differentiation were significant for most of the loci.Phylogenetic analysis and AMOVA showed that all populations were divided into three main groups.The R-matrix analysis reflected that Uygur,Kirgiz and Ozbek had more amounts of gene flow than other populations,while the pattern of Hui was more isolated.Conclusion The seven minorities in Xinjiang are independent populations,while the level of differentiation is at average.The relationship in evolution is not far from each other,with wide gene flow.