Comment on "Phonemic diversity supports a serial founder effect model of language expansion from Africa".
Atkinson (Reports, 15 April 2011, p. 346) concluded that language originated in western Africa and that, due to a serial founder effect, languages repeatedly lost phonemes the farther they moved from the African point of origin. Independent examination of the published data tends to refute both these claims.
roryvantuyl@gmail.com
Rory
R
Van Tuyl
Asya
A
Pereltsvaig
D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D010700:Phonetics