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Building social cognitive models of language change
Daniel J Hruschka1, Morten H Christiansen, Richard A Blythe
1School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA. Daniel.Hruschka@asu.edu
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|October 10, 2009
Summary
This study models language change as an evolutionary process, using probabilistic models to understand cognitive and social influences on linguistic variants and their evolution.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Language change studies address fundamental questions in cognitive science.
- Understanding the origins of human language capacity and social cognition is crucial.
- Mechanisms of culture change are complex and require interdisciplinary approaches.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce a novel framework for studying language change.
- Model language change as an evolutionary process involving competing linguistic variants.
- Highlight the role of probabilistic, data-driven models in analyzing language evolution.
Main Methods:
- Employing an evolutionary framework to model language change.
- Utilizing probabilistic models to infer linguistic changes.
- Comparing competing hypotheses on social and cognitive influences using data-driven approaches.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated the utility of an evolutionary framework for language change research.
- Showcased probabilistic models as effective tools for inferring linguistic evolution.
- Provided a unified approach to compare diverse influences on language change.
Conclusions:
- Language change can be effectively studied as an evolutionary process.
- Probabilistic, data-driven models are essential for understanding the drivers of language evolution.
- This framework offers new insights into the interplay of social and cognitive factors in language change.
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