Salikoko S. Mufwene
VerifiedUniversity of Chicago · Organismal Biology & Evolution
Active 1976–2025
About
Salikoko S. Mufwene is the Frank J. Mcloraine Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics at the University of Chicago, serving on the Committee on Evolutionary Biology. His research focuses on language evolution, including the birth of new language varieties, their vitality, spread, and the loss of others. Mufwene emphasizes that languages are cultural artifacts that align with cultural evolution, contributing commentary on related topics such as language's mode of extra-genomic evolution and socio-cultural transmission. His work also involves modeling the emergence of contact languages, providing ecological accounts of language evolution, and building social cognitive models of language change. Mufwene has contributed to understanding the parsing of language evolution and the broader processes underlying language change, integrating perspectives from evolutionary biology and cultural evolution to advance the field.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Philosophy
- Linguistics
- History
Selected publications
The Myth of the Americanization of the World
2025-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingDiachronica · 2025-05-23 · 2 citations
articleEcological Perspectives on Language Endangerment and Loss
2025-01-01 · 1 citations
book1st authorCorrespondingLanguages Do Not Kill Languages, Speakers/Signers Do
2025-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingCreoles, Pidgins, and World Englishes
2025-03-11
other1st authorCorrespondingThe understanding of how (English) creoles and pidgins emerged and how they differ from the subset of world Englishes identified as “indigenized Englishes” has changed importantly since the 1988 publication of Mufwene's “English pidgins: Form and function.” Approaching the subject matter ecologically, this entry explains both similarities and differences in the ways all these varieties emerged and why both creole and pidgin Englishes have evolved in a non‐exceptional fashion, consistent with the Uniformitarian Principle in language speciation.
2025-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingConclusions: LEL as an Embarrassment for Linguistics
2025-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingLanguage Maintenance and Revitalization vs Language Documentation
2025-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingWhat’s a Language? What’s Its Function?
2025-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingMigrations humaines et évolution linguistique. Les parcours des créoles et du français
Collège de France eBooks · 2025-01-01
book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorrespondingMonsieur l’Administrateur du Collège de France, cher Thomas Römer, Monsieur le Recteur de l’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, cher Slim Khalbous, Chers et chères invité·es, chers et chères ami·es et autres visiteurs et visiteuses intéressé·es par mes idées,On m’a demandé pourquoi le titre que j’avais choisi à l’origine pour cette leçon inaugurale contenait la formule « mouvements de populations
Frequent coauthors
- 19 shared
Anna María Escobar
- 10 shared
Georges Daniel Véronique
- 5 shared
Cécile B. Vigouroux
- 5 shared
Pieter Muysken
- 5 shared
John Algeo
- 4 shared
Annick De Houwer
- 4 shared
John R. Rickford
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 4 shared
John E. Edwards
Education
- 1979
PhD, Linguistics
University of Chicago
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