Seminars

Past seminars

Wednesday 23 October 2024 at 10.15 am

Location: Natura, seminar room XI

Zoom: https://utu.zoom.us/j/61515345616

Dr. Shevan Wilkin, Head of Ancient Protein Laboratory. University of Basel, Switzerland

Title: “Proteomics of archaeological materials”

Tuesday 13.8.2024 

Professor Dan Dediu, from the University of Barcelona

“Color has it all: from genetics, perception, cognition and environment to large-scale cross-linguistic variation”

Abstract:

Where does the observed large-scale variation between human groups and their cultures and languages come from? How do they emerge? Here I’ll use the case of color to argue that, in some cases at least, inter-individual variation can be amplified to the level of large-scale patterns of variation. More precisely, the genetic and environmental effects on color perception, coupled with the complexity of its cognitive processing and expression in language “conspire” to produce, on the one hand, some universal tendencies in the colors lexicon, as well as fascinating patterns of variation between languages. This provides a window into the complex interplay between genetics, culture and language, and into the role played by the repeated use and transmission of language in complex dynamic networks for the way languages “cut reality at its joints” (in highly variable, but not too variables, ways).

Wednesday 15.5.
Juha Kere, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
“Genes, environment and chance”
Abstract:
In genetics, we often think of gene effects as rather deterministic, as illustrated by monogenic inheritance and diseases. However, besides the genes and environmental effects, chance is the third major factor in multiple aspects of our lives, including even developmental processes. I will discuss major aspects of genetic research findings and applications, including our improved understanding of the genetic architecture of complex disorders and of gene regulation, a new approach for drug discovery, and the low utility of polygenic risk scores (PRS) as predictors of common, complex disorders such as coronary artery disease. As alternative approaches for personalized medicine, I will briefly highlight new methods based on proteomics, metabolomics, cell-free-DNA (cfDNA), and imaging technologies as dynamic markers of health.

Elina Salmela, Department of Biology, University of Turku
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki
“The skull of a saint? A genetic analysis of the purported cranium of St. Henry from the Cathedral of Turku”
Abstract:
In 1924, a human skull was found carefully hidden in a wall niche in the main cathedral of Turku. The skull’s origin (i.e., provenance) is unknown, but some claim it to have belonged to St. Henry, the patron saint of now-Lutheran Finland, whose historicity, however, is unclear. The skull has been radiocarbon dated to the 11th-12th century CE, in congruence with the legend of St. Henry, which portrays him as a bishop of Uppsala who arrived in Finland in the 1150s to baptize the natives and got murdered by a local peasant. We have sampled the skull for ancient-DNA sequencing, and I will present results of analyses attempting to pinpoint the individual’s genetic history on the map.

Friday 21.4.2023
Outi Vesakoski: Human Diversity
“Discovering how human encounters cascade into genetic and cultural legacies”
Abstract: HuDi is about discovering how human encounters cascade into genetic and cultural legacies. How could we use linguistic research in this?

David Inman (University of Zürich, Department of Comparative Language Science, Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution)
“Linguistic traces of population contact”
Abstract: Language contact between population groups leaves behind evidence in the lexicons and grammars of the languages involved. This linguistic information is then carried by the languages and their descendent languages, leaving a trace of historical cultural and linguistic connections that persists after the initiating contact event. In a sufficiently dense and multilingual communication network, multiple languages will develop a pervasive and locally-specific linguistic profile. The large number of new grammars and digital resources published in the last 20 years have made it easier to find historical evidence of this sort present in modern languages. I will talk about how these contact events occur, their relationship to other aspects of human culture, and their impact on language development. I will show how this kind of data can be collected and different ways to analyze it, using the ongoing development of the Areal Typology of the Languages of the Americas (ATLAs) database at the University of Zurich and the sBayes algorithm (Ranacher et al 2021).

Thursday 15.6.2023
“The Russian Constructicon: Main Principles and Applications“
Zoia Butenko, University of Oslo
Abstract: Building of The Russian construction from language technology perspective

Daria Demidova, University of Turku/ UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Abstract: Use of The Russian construction in language teaching

Tuesday 4.7.2023
“The diversity of the Uralic languages in the light of new typological data (Uralic Typological Data Online)”
Outi Vesakoski, Human Diversity consortium

“Disentangling Ancestral State Reconstruction in Historical Linguistics – comparing classic approaches and new methods with Oceanic grammar”
Hedvig Skirgård, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Plànck lnstitute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Abstract:
Ancestral State Reconstruction (ASR) is an essential part of historical linguistics (HL). Conventional ASR in HL relies on three core principles: fewest changes on the tree, plausibility of changes and plausibility of the resulting combinations of features in proto-languages. This approach has some problems, in particular the definition of what is plausible and the disregard of branch lengths. This study compares the classic approach of ASR to computational tools (Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood), conceptually and practically. Computational models have the advantage of being more transparent, consistent and replicable, and the disadvantage of lacking nuanced knowledge and context. Using data from the structural database Grambank, I compare reconstructions of the grammar of ancestral Oceanic languages from the historical linguistics literature to those achieved by computational means. The results show that there is a high degree of agreement between manual and computational approaches, with a tendency for classical HL to agree more with the approaches that ignore branch lengths. Taking into account branch lengths explicitly is more conceptually sound, as such the field of historical linguistics should engage in improving methods in this direction. A combination of computational methods and qualitative knowledge is possible in future and would be of great benefit.

Wednesday 9.8.2023
“Linguistic dating”
Michael Dunn, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University
Abstract:
The language diversity documented in the present way is the product of historical processes. Linguistic historical methods allow us to reconstruct these processes of change and infer aspects of genealogical relationships and chronology. This talk will give an introduction to two of the main methods for this currently used in linguistics: the linguistic Comparative Method, and Bayesian phylochronology.

“Computational Linguistic Dating and the Uralic Family”
Tiago Tresoldi,  Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University
Abstract:
This presentation will explore computational linguistic dating methodologies, focusing on the Uralic language family. The introduction will shed light on distance-based approaches, such as glottochronology, the first method to statistically estimate linguistic divergence, and character-based methods, including modern Bayesian analyses. This exploration aims to elucidate the roles and applications of these techniques within the domain of “computational historical linguistic dating.” The core of the presentation will center on applying these methods to date not only the root of the Uralic family but also its branches. This seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the historical development and timeline of the family. Within this context, the presentation will detail different models used in the Bayesian approach, such as tree models, speciation models, and molecular clocks, illustrating their significance in the chronological study of the Uralic family and its subdivisions. Additionally, interdisciplinary perspectives from genetics and archaeology will be addressed as complementary tools that can work alongside linguistic dating. This synthesis underscores how these diverse fields can merge to refine and enhance the precision of dating methodologies, presenting a multifaceted perspective. The presentation will conclude with a succinct exploration of emerging trends in computational historical linguistic dating, such as the potential investigation of non-lexical data, including phonological, morphological, and grammatical data. These innovative directions mark the ongoing evolution of the field, signifying prospects for continued research and application.

Wednesday 6.9.2023
“Genetic admixture and language shift in the medieval Volga-Oka interfluve”
Sanni Peltola, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki

“Inferring language contact through rule-based computational borrowing detection”
Viktor Martinović, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Wednesday 8.11.2023
“The Expensive Germline and the Disposable Soma: exploring the co-evolution of life history and deleterious mutation rate”
Piret Avila, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), University of Toulouse
Abstract:
The cost of germline maintenance and repair gives rise to a trade-off between immutability (lowering deleterious mutation rates) and life-history functions. Life-histories and the mutation rate therefore co-evolve, but this joint evolutionary process is not well understood. I present a mathematical model to analyse the long-term evolution of traits affecting life-histories and deleterious mutation rate. I show that evolutionary stable life-histories and mutation rates can be  characterised using the basic reproductive number of the least-loaded class (expected lifetime production of  offspring without deleterious mutations born to individuals with the smallest number of deleterious mutations). We further analyse two specific biological scenarios: (i) co-evolution between reproductive effort and mutation rate and (ii) co-evolution between age at maturity and mutation rate. These two scenarios suggest two results. First, the trade-off between immutability vs life-history functions depends strongly on environmental conditions and baseline mutation rate. For example, low external mortality and high radiation environment favour high investment into immutability. Second, the trade-offs between different life-history factors can be strongly affected by mutation rate co-evolution and higher baseline mutation rates  select for “faster life histories”: (i) higher investment into fecundity at the expense of survival and (ii) earlier age of maturation at smaller sizes. I will also discuss the implications of this model on understanding evolution of ageing and I will give an overview of my future research agenda concerning the evolution of ageing.

Wednesday 13.12.2023
“Introducing archaeogenetics in Human Diversity”
Päivi Onkamo, Human Diversity consortium, University of Turku

“Resolving ancient epidemics with archaeogenetics”
Kerttu Majander, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM), University of Zurich

Wednesday 31.1.2024
“Family proximity and relocations in older adulthood”
Alyona Artamonova, Väestöliitto – Population Research Institute and University of Groningen – Population Research Centre
Abstract:
The family remains one of the biggest sources of support for older adults. Geographic proximity between family members has important implications for the growing demand for formal and informal care. As people age, their own and their family members’ residential (im)mobility may be a strategy to facilitate the exchange of care. I will talk about my research that addresses the following question: How are needs-related life circumstances of older people associated with their own and their relatives’ migration and immobility (including older adults’ moves into institutionalized care facilities)? I will focus on the roles of a range of needs-related life circumstances of older adults in their own and their family members’ locational choices: needs for formal care, severe health problems, the absence of core family members, or losing a partner recently. Drawing on the full population register data from Norway and Sweden, I show that older adults’ needs-related life circumstances deter intergenerational geographic divergence, and inspire moves toward adult children, siblings, and into institutionalized residential care. The results of my research also emphasize the importance of non-resident family members in migration and immobility both as a deterrent to moving into institutionalized care and elsewhere when family members already live nearby and as an attraction to migrate toward clusters of relatives. The findings broadly suggest that even in Norway and Sweden where formal care services are available, the welfare state is far from “crowding out” the family from the sphere of care and the family plays an important role in the locational choices of older adults.

Wednesday 14.2.2024
“Historical document OCR with Transkribus: background + hands-on“
Ari Vesalainen, Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki

Wednesday 28.2.2024
“Mathematical population migration modelling”
Kalle Parvinen, Department of Mathematics and Statisctis, University of Turku

Wednesday 13.3.2024
“Proteomics in archaeology”
Ulla Moilanen, Department of Archaeology, University of Turku

Wednesday 27.3.2024
“Ancient genes of North-Eastern Europe: ancient DNA data and its practicalities”
Sanni Peltola, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki

“Modern and ancient exposure and evolution of pathogens affecting human health”
Ville Pimenoff, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu & Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Wednesday 10.4.2024
“Hypothesis driven cultural evolution, incl. existense of monsters”
Sean Roberts, School of English, Communication and Philosophy, University of Cardiff, UK.

“Landscape affordances driving population (linguistic) devergence”
Terhi Honkola, Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, University of Helsinki

Wednesday 24.4.2024
“Finnic languages in their Circum-Baltic space”
Miina Norvik, Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, Estonia
Abstract:
The Circum-Baltic Area is a meeting point of languages from two language families – Uralic and Indo-European. Finnic languages, which are in focus in this talk, have had close contacts with Indo-European languages belonging to three distinct branches – Baltic, Slavic, and Germanic. Or to put it more precisely, the people speaking these languages have been in contact, not the languages per se. Contact situations are also reflected in the current state-of-affairs (linguistic and genetic picture etc.).  

The aim of the talk is to discuss results obtained by analyzing the spread of linguistic features belonging to different structural levels (phonology, morphosyntax). The main purpose is to offer a micro-areal analysis of (dis)similarities and distributions of languages constituting the Finnic-speaking area with a main focus on the Southern Finnic languages. As will be shown, on several occasions, the results align with geography.

The data originate from UraTyp, a typological database of the Uralic languages. Altogether the database contains 360 linguistic features whose presence or absence (e.g., Are there two sets of local cases?) is coded for 35 Uralic languages, among them 11 Finnic languages. For an analysis on phonology, we took 50 features from UraTyp and complemented them with additional features relevant for the Finnic languages. The final dataset contained 36 Finnic languages/language varieties, all represented with 58 features. Analyses on morphosyntax, in turn, take a different approach by zooming in into a handful of features, and considering not only the structure but also the form.

“Identifying individual Finnish speakers’ dialectal background using supervised machine learning”
Ilmari Ivaska, Finnish, Finno-Ugric and Scandinavian languages, University of Turku