Editing Origin of language (section)

=== Phonemic diversity ===
In 2011, Quentin Atkinson published a survey of [[phoneme]]s from 500 different languages as well as [[language families]] and compared their phonemic diversity by region, number of speakers and distance from Africa. The survey revealed that African languages had the largest number of phonemes, and [[Oceanic languages|Oceania]] and [[Languages of South America|South America]] had the smallest number. After allowing for the number of speakers, the phonemic diversity was compared to over 2000 possible origin locations. Atkinson's "best fit" model is that language originated in western, central, or southern Africa between 80,000 and 160,000 years ago. This predates the hypothesized [[Coastal migration|southern coastal peopling]] of Arabia, India, southeast Asia, and Australia. It would also mean that the origin of language occurred at the same time as the emergence of symbolic culture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Atkinson |first=Quentin |year=2011 |title=Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa |url=http://www.stat.uchicago.edu/~pmcc/prelims/2011/Atkinson-346-9.pdf |journal=Science Magazine |volume=332 |issue=6027 |pages=346–349 |bibcode=2011Sci...332..346A |doi=10.1126/science.1199295 |pmid=21493858 |s2cid=42021647 |access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref>

Numerous linguists<ref name="Cysouw2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Cysouw |first1=Michael |last2=Dediu |first2=Dan |last3=Moran |first3=Steven |date=10 February 2012 |title=Comment on "Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa" |journal=Science |volume=335 |issue=6069 |page=657 |bibcode=2012Sci...335..657C |doi=10.1126/science.1208841 |pmid=22323802 |ref=Cysouw 2012 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0012-1937-4}}</ref><ref name="Wang2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Chuan-Chao |last2=Ding |first2=Qi-Liang |last3=Tao |first3=Huan |last4=Li |first4=Hui |date=10 February 2012 |title=Comment on "Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa" |url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1207846 |journal=Science |volume=335 |issue=6069 |page=657 |bibcode=2012Sci...335..657W |doi=10.1126/science.1207846 |pmid=22323803 |s2cid=31360222 |access-date=22 October 2023 |ref=Wang 2012}}</ref><ref name="Pereltsvaig2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Pereltsvaig |first1=Asya |last2=Van Tuyl |first2=Rory |date=10 February 2012 |title=Comment on "Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa" |url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1209176 |journal=Science |volume=335 |issue=6069 |page=657 |bibcode=2012Sci...335..657V |doi=10.1126/science.1209176 |pmid=22323804 |access-date=22 October 2023 |ref=Pereltsvaig 2012}}</ref> have criticized Atkinson's paper as misrepresenting both the phonemic data and processes of linguistic change, as language complexity does not necessarily correspond to age, and of failing to take into account the borrowing of phonemes from neighbouring languages, as some [[Bantu languages]] have done with click consonants.<ref name="Pereltsvaig2012" /> Recreations of his method gave possible origins of language in the Caucasus<ref name="Cysouw2012" /> and Turkmenistan,<ref name="Wang2012" /> in addition to southern and eastern Africa.