Simplifying linguistic complexity : culture and cognition in language evolution
Languages are culturally transmitted through a repeated cycle of learning and communicative interaction. These two aspects of cultural transmission impose (at least) three interacting pressures that can shape the evolution of linguistic structure: a pressure for learnability, a pressure for expressivity, and a pressure for coordination amongst users in a linguistic community. This thesis considers how these sometimes competing pressures impact linguistic complexity across cultural time. Using artificial language and iterated learning experimental paradigms, I investigate the conditions under which complexity in morphological and syntactic systems emerges, spreads, and reduces. These experiments illustrate the interaction of transmission, learning and use in hitherto understudied domains - morphosyntax and word order. In a first study (Chapter 2), I report the first iterated learning experiments to investigate the evolution of complexity in compositional structure at the word and sentence level. I demonstrate that a complex meaning space paired with pressures for learnability and communication can result in compositional hierarchical constituent structure, including fixed combinatorial rules of word formation
Saldana, Carmen Catalina
language evolution ; linguistic complexity ; simplicity bias ; artificial language learning ; iterated learning ; interaction ; morphology ; syntax
Simplifying linguistic complexity : culture and cognition in language evolution. Languages are culturally transmitted through a repeated cycle of learning and communicative interaction. These two aspects of cultural transmission impose (at least) three interacting pressures that can shape the evolution of linguistic structure: a pressure for learnability, a pressure for expressivity, and a pressure for coordination amongst users in a linguistic community. This thesis considers how these sometimes competing pressures impact linguistic complexity across cultural time. Using artificial language and iterated learning experimental paradigms, I investigate the conditions under which complexity in morphological and syntactic systems emerges, spreads, and reduces. These experiments illustrate the interaction of transmission, learning and use in hitherto understudied domains - morphosyntax and word order. In a first study (Chapter 2), I report the first iterated learning experiments to investigate the evolution of complexity in compositional structure at the word and sentence level. I demonstrate that a complex meaning space paired with pressures for learnability and communication can result in compositional hierarchical constituent structure, including fixed combinatorial rules of word formation
linguistic complexity culture cognition language_evolution languages culturally transmit repeated cycle learn communicative_interaction two_aspect cultural_transmission impose least_three interact pressure shape evolution linguistic_structure pressure pressure pressure coordination amongst user linguistic community considers sometimes compete pressure impact linguistic complexity across cultural time using artificial_language learning experimental paradigm investigate condition complexity morphological_syntactic system emerge spread reduces illustrate interaction transmission learn use hitherto understudied domains morphosyntax word_order first study_report first learning investigate evolution complexity compositional structure word_sentence level complex mean space pair pressure communication compositional hierarchical constituent structure include fix rule word_formation