In their paper, Everett et al. (2016) stress how a shift could or should take place from autonomous linguistic forms to ecologically adaptive ones. This raises the issue of the meaning of ecology when it comes to languages, and to what the Greek root of this word— oikos , the house or the habitat—actually refers. Several authors have equated the ecology of languages with their social environment, i.e., communities of speakers. When describing the ecology of language evolution , Mufwene (2001) exemplified how situations of contact between several languages in colonial plantations resulted in specific selections and assemblages of linguistic forms. More recently, Lupyan and Dale’s (2010) ecolinguistic niche hypothesis points at how differing social contexts may shape language structures, much as ecological niches shape organisms. They suggest in particular that a high percentage of adult L2 learners in a linguistic community may push toward less morphological complexity. Another example of social influences on linguistic forms is the debated positive correlation between the number of speakers of a language and the size of its phonological inventory (Hay and Bauer 2007; Bybee 2011). The notion of ecology can also relate to the natural environment in which speakers live and interact, as it is the case in Everett et al.'s contribution. Different phenomena can be acknowledged, which may take place simultaneously or not in specific situations. First, as highlighted by the authors, indirect influences may be identified: different ecological settings can induce different social or sociolinguistic situations, which may in turn partly shape linguistic forms. According to Nettle (1996), increased ecological risk leads to wider networks of mutual exchange and as a consequence reduced linguistic diversity and wider language areas. For Munroe et al. (1996), warm climates promote more frequent usage of Consonant–Vowel syllables and sonorous sounds, since …

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评论：定义和评估语言形式的限制

在他们的论文中，埃弗雷特等人。(2016) 强调如何从自主语言形式转变为生态适应性形式。这就提出了生态学在语言中的含义的问题，以及这个词的希腊词根——oikos、房子或栖息地——实际指的是什么。一些作者将语言生态等同于他们的社会环境，即说话者社区。在描述语言进化的生态学时，Mufwene (2001) 举例说明了殖民地种植园中几种语言之间的接触情况如何导致语言形式的特定选择和组合。最近，Lupyan 和 Dale (2010) 的生态语言生态位假设指出了不同的社会背景如何塑造语言结构，就像生态位塑造有机体一样。他们特别指出，语言社区中很大比例的成人 L2 学习者可能会倾向于降低形态复杂性。社会对语言形式的影响的另一个例子是一种语言的使用者数量与其语音清单大小之间存在争议的正相关（Hay 和 Bauer 2007；Bybee 2011）。生态的概念也可以与说话者生活和互动的自然环境有关，就像 Everett 等人的贡献一样。可以承认不同的现象，这些现象可能同时发生，也可能在特定情况下不发生。首先，正如作者所强调的那样，可以确定间接影响：不同的生态环境会导致不同的社会或社会语言状况，这反过来可能会部分地塑造语言形式。根据 Nettle (1996) 的说法，增加的生态风险导致更广泛的相互交流网络，因此减少了语言多样性和更广泛的语言区域。对于 Munroe 等人。（1996），温暖的气候促进更频繁地使用辅音-元音音节和响亮的声音，因为……