Chundra Cathcart

Evolutionary dynamics of maximal syllable complexity show no universal bias rooted in jaw biomechanics

The paper uses phylogenetic comparative methods to analyze syllable complexity across 5 language families, finding lineage-specific factors drive variation more than universal biomechanical biases.

Supra-regular recursion in primate vocal sequences

This study shows nonhuman primates use supra-regular recursive grammars in vocal sequences, challenging the idea that syntax is unique to humans.

A Phylogenetic Perspective on the Syntax-Semantics Interface: A Case Study in Clause Linkage Constructions

The paper models phylogenetic dynamics of clause linkage constructions across languages to assess semantic influence on syntax, finding moderate lineage-specific effects and minimal geographic impact.

Writing does not Impact the Evolution of Syntax

This study tests whether writing affects language evolution and use, finding no significant impact on hierarchy depth, sentence length, or clause combining in 30 and 59 languages.

Linguistic evolution minimizes the amount of syntactic hierarchy in grammar

The paper uses phylogenetic modeling to show that languages tend to minimize syntactic hierarchy in grammar, with cultural variation, likely due to learning costs.

Animal acoustic communication maintains a universal optimum rhythm

The paper analyzes acoustic communication rhythms across 98 species, finding that vocalization rhythms are conserved around a 3Hz optimum, suggesting a universal neural constraint.