INTRANET
Mélissa Barkat-Defradas

Mélissa Barkat-Defradas

Research Scientist
Surprisingly, the study of language activity has long been conducted without any questioning of its biological function. In fact, the Human and Social Sciences (anthropology, linguistics) have long defended the idea that language appeared without any selective pressure. In this paradigm, the human being - defined as a fundamentally cultural being with few instinctive behaviors - would have "invented" articulated language (as well as writing). In this purely culturalist conception, the question of the raison d'être of language behavior has long been evacuated from scientific investigation in favor of the extensive study of the proximal and sensorimotor mechanisms that underlie it. However, asking the question of the ultimate causes of human language makes it possible to raise original questions and to answer questions that are still pending. My research aims to demonstrate that the synergy of approaches developed in linguistics and evolutionary biology can significantly advance our knowledge of this specifically human faculty. Trained as a linguist, my research interests include:(1) The study of the voice as an honest signal allowing the speaker to display - via certain vocal characteristics - his phenotypic quality and increase his reproductive success(2) The study of linguistic and genetic proximity. Following the work initially led by the geneticist L. Cavalli-Sforza, I study the genetic diversity of Arab populations in order to better understand the linguistic variability of the Arabic-speaking domain.(3) The study of the role of the family in the transmission of socially valued linguistic forms, which posits that language skills - different according to the social affiliation of individuals - participate in the social structuring of human populations.






        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
       
       
       
    
124 documents

  • Alexandre Suire, Alba Bossoms Mesa, Michel Raymond, Melissa Barkat-Defradas. Sex-biased sound symbolism in French first names. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 2019, 1, ⟨10.1017/ehs.2019.7⟩. ⟨hal-02352914⟩
  • Alexandre Suire, Michel Raymond, Melissa Barkat-Defradas. Male Vocal Quality and Its Relation to Females’ Preferences. Evolutionary Psychology: an International Journal of Evolutionary Approaches to Psychology and Behavior, 2019, 17 (3), pp.147470491987467. ⟨10.1177/1474704919874675⟩. ⟨hal-02352935⟩
  • Frédérique Gayraud, Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Mohamed Lahrouchi, Mahé Ben Hamed. Development of phonetic complexity in Arabic, Berber, English and French. Canadian Journal of Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique, 2018, 63 (4), pp.527-555. ⟨10.1017/cnj.2018.9⟩. ⟨halshs-01774442⟩
  • Alexandre Suire, Michel Raymond, Melissa Barkat-Defradas. Human vocal behavior within competitive and courtship contexts and its relation to mating success. Evolution and Human Behavior, 2018, 39 (6), pp.684-691. ⟨10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.07.001⟩. ⟨hal-02352946⟩
  • Jeanne Bovet, Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Valérie Durand, Charlotte Faurie, Michel Raymond. Women's attractiveness is linked to expected age at menopause. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2018, 31 (2), pp.229-238. ⟨10.1111/jeb.13214⟩. ⟨hal-01829172⟩
  • Frédérique Gayraud, Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Mohamed Lahrouchi, Mahé Ben Hamed. Development of phonetic complexity in Arabic, Berber, English and French. Canadian Journal of Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique, 2018, 63 (4), pp.527-555. ⟨10.1017/cnj.2018.9⟩. ⟨hal-04087203⟩
  • Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Aleksandre Suire, Valérie Durand, Christelle Dodane, Fabrice Hirsch, et al.. Sexe, Hormones & Fo. 7èmes Journées de Phonétique Clinique, Jun 2017, Paris, France. ⟨hal-02427124⟩
  • Christelle Dodane, Fabrice Hirsch, Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Jérémi Sauvage. Riso e humor na linguagem da criança: o acústico e o contexto. XVII Congresso da Sociedade Internacional para o Estudo do Humor, Nov 2016, Araraquara, Brazil. ⟨hal-02427800⟩
  • Christelle Dodane, Angelina Nunes de Vasconcelos, Ester Scarpa, Melissa Barkat-Defradas. Disfluences dans le langage de l’enfant : une perspective trans-linguistique (français et portugais brésilien). Glossa, 2016, Glossa Spécial Montpellier, 121, pp.15-37. ⟨hal-01821693⟩
  • Mahé Ben Hamed, Melissa Barkat-Defradas, Rim Hamdi-Sultan. The evolution of Arabic(s): Making the Idiom speak for the Deme. International Journal of Modern Anthropology, 2015, 1 (8), pp.94-116. ⟨10.4314/ijma.v1i8.5⟩. ⟨halshs-01740835⟩

    


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