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Universals versus historical contingencies in lexical evolution.

V Bochkarev1, V Solovyev1, S Wichmann2

  • 1Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya Street 18, 420000 Kazan, Russia.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
|October 3, 2014
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Summary

Lexical evolution, the study of word usage changes, shows consistent rates over decades but varies greatly short-term. Societal events like wars accelerate change, while stability slows it.

Keywords:
Google Books N-gramsKullback–Leibler divergencelanguage dynamicslexical change

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Computational Linguistics
  • Sociolinguistics

Background:

  • Lexical evolution, the study of word usage changes, is not well understood beyond a few specific words.
  • The dynamics of how entire language systems evolve remain largely unknown.
  • Key questions involve whether lexical change is driven by universal cognitive/social factors or historical events.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the dynamics of lexical evolution across multiple languages.
  • To determine the factors influencing the rate of lexical change.
  • To differentiate between universal patterns and historical contingencies in language evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Google Books N-Gram Corpus for extensive word frequency data.
  • Employed relative entropy as a quantitative measure of changes in word frequency distributions.
  • Analyzed data across several languages to identify cross-linguistic patterns.

Main Results:

  • Observed consistent rates of lexical change across languages at timescales of approximately five decades or longer.
  • Found significant variability in the rate of lexical change at shorter timescales, differing between languages.
  • Demonstrated that major societal transformations and catastrophic events (e.g., wars) increase lexical change, while societal stability has a dampening effect.

Conclusions:

  • Lexical evolution is influenced by both universal tendencies and specific historical contingencies.
  • Language change rates exhibit long-term stability but short-term variability.
  • Societal dynamics play a crucial role in modulating the pace of lexical evolution.