title: Coevolution of languages and genes on the island of Sumba, eastern Indonesia.
abstract: Numerous studies indicate strong associations between languages and genes among human populations at the global scale, but all broader scale genetic and linguistic patterns must arise from processes originating at the community level. We examine linguistic and genetic variation in a contact zone on the eastern Indonesian island of Sumba, where Neolithic Austronesian farming communities settled and began interacting with aboriginal foraging societies approximately 3,500 years ago. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on a 200-word Swadesh list sampled from 29 localities supports the hypothesis that Sumbanese languages derive from a single ancestral Austronesian language. However, the proportion of cognates (words with a common origin) traceable to Proto-Austronesian (PAn) varies among language subgroups distributed across the island. Interestingly, a positive correlation was found between the percentage of Y chromosome lineages that derive from Austronesian (as opposed to aboriginal) ancestors and the retention of PAn cognates. We also find a striking correlation between the percentage of PAn cognates and geographic distance from the site where many Sumbanese believe their ancestors arrived on the island. These language-gene-geography correlations, unprecedented at such a fine scale, imply that historical patterns of social interaction between expanding farmers and resident hunter-gatherers largely explain community-level language evolution on Sumba. We propose a model to explain linguistic and demographic coevolution at fine spatial and temporal scales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1009 East South Campus Drive, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. lansing@santafe.edu
authors.forename: J Stephen
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lansing
authors.forename: Murray P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Sean S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Downey
authors.forename: Brandon M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Gabler
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hallmark
authors.forename: Tatiana M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Karafet
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Norquest
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Schoenfelder
authors.forename: Herawati
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sudoyo
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Hammer
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007214:Indonesia; D007802:Language; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010802:Phylogeny; D013997:Time Factors