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Complex Systems In Language Evolution: The Cultural Emergence Of Compositional Structure

Author

Listed:
  • KENNY SMITH

    (Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Adam Ferguson Building, 40 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LL, UK)

  • HENRY BRIGHTON

    (Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Adam Ferguson Building, 40 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LL, UK)

  • SIMON KIRBY

    (Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Adam Ferguson Building, 40 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LL, UK)

Abstract

Language arises from the interaction of three complex adaptive systems — biological evolution, learning, and culture. We focus here on cultural evolution, and present an Iterated Learning Model of the emergence of compositionality, a fundamental structural property of language. Our main result is to show that the poverty of the stimulus available to language learners leads to a pressure for linguistic structure. When there is a bottleneck on cultural transmission, only a language which is generalizable from sparse input data is stable. Language itself evolves on a cultural time-scale, and compositionality is language's adaptation to stimulus poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenny Smith & Henry Brighton & Simon Kirby, 2003. "Complex Systems In Language Evolution: The Cultural Emergence Of Compositional Structure," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(04), pages 537-558.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:06:y:2003:i:04:n:s0219525903001055
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219525903001055
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