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Neutral stability, drift, and the diversification of languages
Christina Pawlowitsch1, Panayotis Mertikopoulos, Nikolaus Ritt
1Paris School of Economics, France; Department of Economics, University of Vienna, Austria. pawlowitsch@ens.fr
Journal of Theoretical Biology
|July 30, 2011
Summary
Language diversification, or speciation, can arise from frequency-dependent selection in cooperative settings. This evolutionary game model explains how lexical meaning changes, contributing to language splitting without external functions.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary linguistics
- Theoretical linguistics
- Game theory
Background:
- Language diversification is a key evolutionary phenomenon requiring explanation.
- Existing theories often link diversification to group markers and cooperation.
- Speciation mechanisms in biology offer a conceptual parallel to language change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model language diversification using evolutionary game theory.
- To demonstrate how lexical meaning diversification can emerge endogenously.
- To explain language splitting via frequency-dependent selection and neutral drift.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an evolutionary language game model (style of Nowak et al., 1999).
- Analyzed neutrally stable polymorphisms where signals map to multiple concepts.
- Investigated the impact of neutral drift on mutations for bidirectionality.
Main Results:
- Language diversification in lexical meaning can occur in a cooperative world.
- Frequency-dependent selection drives diversification endogenously within the model.
- Neutral drift facilitates the invasion of bidirectionality, leading to language splitting.
Conclusions:
- Language diversification is an endogenous feature of evolutionary language games.
- The proposed mechanism explains how related languages can develop different meanings for cognates.
- This model provides a novel perspective on language speciation driven by internal dynamics.
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