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Published on: January 29, 2020
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Agent-based models for the emergence and evolution of grammar
1ICREA, IBE-Universitat Pompeu Fabra and CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain steels@arti.vub.ac.be.
Summary
Human languages evolve through a grammatical cycle where meanings shift from lexical to syntactic and morphological expression. Agent-based models help uncover mechanisms driving these complex adaptive system changes.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Evolutionary Dynamics
Background:
- Human languages are complex adaptive systems with intricate sound, meaning, and structure.
- Understanding the cognitive and evolutionary mechanisms behind language is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying language creation and maintenance.
- To explore the evolutionary dynamics of language self-organization and complexity.
- To focus on grammatical evolution and identify causal mechanisms for observed shifts.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the historical language record for grammatical patterns.
- Utilizing agent-based models to simulate and validate evolutionary mechanisms.
- Focusing on the cycle of meaning expression: lexical to syntactic to morphological and back.
Main Results:
- Identified a basic cycle in grammatical evolution: meanings shift from lexical to syntactic, then morphological, and back to lexical.
- Demonstrated the utility of agent-based models in discovering and validating mechanisms for these grammatical shifts.
Conclusions:
- Grammatical evolution follows a discernible cycle, driven by underlying cognitive and collective dynamics.
- Agent-based modeling provides a powerful tool for understanding the self-organization and adaptation of language complexity.
Keywords:
agent-based modelsemergence of grammarfluid construction grammargrammaticalizationlanguage evolutionmajor transitions in evolutionMore Related Videos
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