The Nature of Words in Human Protolanguages: It's Not a Holophrastic-Atomic Meanings Dichotomy

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Dowman
Keyword(s):  
Learning Model ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Iterated Learning

There is an ongoing debate as to whether the words in early presyntactic forms of human language had simple atomic meanings like modern words, or whether they were holophrastic. Simulations were conducted using an iterated learning model in which the agents were able to associate words with meanings, but in which they were not able to use syntactic rules to combine words into phrases or sentences. In some of these simulations words emerged that had neither holophrastic nor atomic meanings, demonstrating the possibility of protolanguages intermediate between these two extremes. Further simulations show how increases in cognitive or articulatory capacity would have produced changes in the type of words that was dominant in protolanguages. It is likely that at some point in time humans spoke a protolanguage in which most words had neither holophrastic nor atomic meanings.

scholarly journals The emergence of duality of patterning through iterated learning: Precursors to phonology in a visual lexicon

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Design Feature ◽  
Combinatorial Structure ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Lexical Structure ◽  
Small Stock ◽  
Iterated Learning ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Duality Of Patterning ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Infinite Set

AbstractDuality of Patterning, one of Hockett's (1960) proposed design features unique to human language, refers in part to the arrangements of a relatively small stock of distinguishable meaningless sounds which are combined to create a potentially infinite set of morphemes. Literature regarding the emergence of this design feature is less abundant than that exploring other levels of structure as focus is more often given to the emergence of syntax. In an effort to explore where combinatorial structure of meaningless elements arises the results of two pilot experiments are presented within which we observe human participants modifying a small lexicon of visual symbols through a process of iterated learning. As this lexicon evolves there is evidence that it becomes simpler and more learnable, more easily transmitted. I argue that these features are a consequence of spontaneous emergence of combinatorial, sub-lexical structure in the lexicon, that the pattern of emergence is more complex than the most widely espoused explanation suggests, and I propose ways in which future work can build on what we learn from these pilot experiments to confirm this hypothesis.

scholarly journals Process Acceleration in the Iterated Learning Model with String Clipping

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryuichi Matoba ◽  
Hiroki Sudo ◽  
Makoto Nakamura ◽  
Shingo Hagiwara ◽  
Satoshi Tojo
Keyword(s):  
Learning Model ◽  
Iterated Learning

LANGUAGE DYNAMICS IN STRUCTURED FORM AND MEANING SPACES

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 1150021 ◽  
Author(s):  
BART DE BOER ◽  
TESSA VERHOEF
Keyword(s):  
Complex Form ◽  
Combinatorial Structure ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Functional Constraints ◽  
Cognitive Constraints ◽  
Learning Experiment ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Previous Generation ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Iterated Learning

This paper reviews how the structure of form and meaning spaces influences the nature and the dynamics of the form-meaning mappings in language. In general, in a structured form or meaning space, not all forms and meanings are equivalent: some forms and some meanings are more easily confused with each other than with other forms or meanings. We first give a formalization of this idea, and explore how it influences robust form-meaning mappings. It is shown that some fundamental properties of human language, such as discreteness and combinatorial structure as well as universals of sound systems of human languages follow from optimal communication in structured form and meaning spaces. We also argue that some properties of human language follow less from these fundamental issues, and more from cognitive constraints. We then show that it is possible to experimentally investigate the relative contribution of functional constraints and of cognitive constraints. We illustrate this with an example of one of our own experiments, in which experimental participants have to learn a set of complex form-meaning mappings that have been produced by a previous generation of participants. Theoretically predicted properties appear in the sets of signals that emerge in this iterated learning experiment.

Extension of iterated learning model based on real-world experiment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Matoba ◽  
T. Yonezawa ◽  
S. Hagiwara ◽  
T. Cooper ◽  
M. Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Iterated Learning

scholarly journals The origins of duality of patterning in artificial whistled languages

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa Verhoef
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Combinatorial Structure ◽  
Basic Design ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Finite Set ◽  
Iterated Learning ◽  
Duality Of Patterning

AbstractIn human speech, a finite set of basic sounds is combined into a (potentially) unlimited set of well-formed morphemes. Hockett (1960) placed this phenomenon under the term ‘duality of patterning’ and included it as one of the basic design features of human language. Of the thirteen basic design features Hockett proposed, duality of patterning is the least studied and it is still unclear how it evolved in language. Recent work shedding light on this is summarized in this paper and experimental data is presented. This data shows that combinatorial structure can emerge in an artificial whistled language through cultural transmission as an adaptation to human cognitive biases and learning. In this work the method of experimental iterated learning (Kirby et al. 2008) is used, in which a participant is trained on the reproductions of the utterances the previous participant learned. Participants learn and recall a system of sounds that are produced with a slide whistle. Transmission from participant to participant causes the whistle systems to change and become more learnable and more structured. These findings follow from qualitative observations, quantitative measures and a follow-up experiment that tests how well participants can learn the emerged whistled languages by generalizing from a few examples.

Modelling the “Aoristic Drift of the Present Perfect” as Inflation An Essay in Historical Pragmatics

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Schaden
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Theoretical Issue ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
Iterated Learning

In this article, the diachronic tendency of present perfect forms to become more and more past tense-like is analysed in terms of an inflationary process within an Iterated Learning Model. The paper proposes to improve on current accounts of the diachrony of present perfects (mostly set in the framework of grammaticalisation theory) by making explicit a selfreinforcing causal mechanism that drives the process, namely that speakers overestimate the current relevance contribution of their utterances. The main theoretical issue is to develop an explicit account of language change where modifications in a linguistic system are long-term effects of the use of language, or, put differently, of speaker-hearer interaction and the biases that act upon them.

scholarly journals Iconicity and Structure in the Emergence of Combinatoriality

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hofer ◽  
Roger Philip Levy
Keyword(s):  
Language Evolution ◽  
Virtual Slide ◽  
Design Feature ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Combinatorial Structure ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Finite Set ◽  
Iterated Learning ◽  
Combinatorial System

One design feature of human language is its combinatorial phonology, allowing it to form an unbounded set of meaningful utterances from a finite set of building blocks. Recent experiments suggest how this feature can evolve culturally when continuous signals are repeatedly transmitted between generations. Because the building blocks of a combinatorial system lack independent meaning, combinatorial structure appears to be in conflict with iconicity, another property salient in language evolution. To investigate the developmental trajectory of iconicity during the evolution of combinatoriality, we conducted an iterated learning experiment where participants learned auditory signals produced using a virtual slide whistle. We find that iconicity emerges rapidly but is gradually lost over generations as combinatorial structure continues to increase. This suggests that iconicity biases, whose presence was revealed in a signal guessing experiment, manifest in nuanced ways. We discuss implications of these findings for different ideas about how biases for iconicity and combinatoriality interact in language evolution.

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