scholarly journals Constructing a consensus on language evolution? Convergences and differences between biolinguistic and usage-based approaches

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Pleyer ◽  
Stefan Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Language ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Evo Devo

Two of the main theoretical approaches to the evolution of language are biolinguistics and usage-based approaches. Both are often conceptualized as belonging to seemingly irreconcilable ‘camps.’ Biolinguistic approaches assume that the ability to acquire language is based on a language-specific genetic foundation. Usage-based approaches, on the other hand, stress the importance of domain-general cognitive capacities, social cognition, and interaction. However, there have been a number of recent developments in both paradigms which suggest that biolinguistic and usage-based approaches are actually moving closing together. For example, theoretical advancements such as evo-devo and complex adaptive systems theory have gained traction in the language sciences, leading to changed conceptions of issues like the relative influence of “nature” and “nurture.” In this paper, we outline points of convergence between current minimalist biolinguistic and usage-based approaches regarding four contentious issues: a) modularity and domain-specificity, b) innateness and development, c) cultural and biological evolution, d) knowledge of language and its description. We show that across both paradigms, researchers have come to increasingly embrace more complex views of these issues. They also have come to appreciate the view that biological and cultural evolution are closely intertwined, which leads to an increased amount of common ground between minimalist biolinguistics and usage-based approaches.

COMPLEX SYSTEMS IN LANGUAGE EVOLUTION: THE CULTURAL EMERGENCE OF COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE

2003 ◽  
Vol 06 (04) ◽  
pp. 537-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
KENNY SMITH ◽  
HENRY BRIGHTON ◽  
SIMON KIRBY
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Compositional Structure ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Iterated Learning

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.

Natural Language From Artificial Life

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Artificial Life ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Explanatory Theory ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Systems Learning ◽  
Theory Of Language

This article aims to show that linguistics, in particular the study of the lexico-syntactic aspects of language, provides fertile ground for artificial life modeling. A survey of the models that have been developed over the last decade and a half is presented to demonstrate that ALife techniques have a lot to offer an explanatory theory of language. It is argued that this is because much of the structure of language is determined by the interaction of three complex adaptive systems: learning, culture, and biological evolution. Computational simulation, informed by theoretical linguistics, is an appropriate response to the challenge of explaining real linguistic data in terms of the processes that underpin human language.

scholarly journals Language change and language evolution: Cousins, siblings, twins?

Glottotheory ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cross Fertilization

AbstractThe relationship between “language change” and “language evolution” has recently become subject to some debate regarding the scope of both concepts. It has been claimed that while the latter used to refer to the language origins in the first place, both terms can now, to a certain extent, be used synonymously. In this paper, I argue that this can partly be explained by parallel developments both in historical linguistics and in the field of language evolution research that have led to a considerable amount of convergence between both fields. Both have adopted usage-based approaches and data-driven methods, which entails similar research questions and similar perspectives on the phenomena under investigation. This has ramifications for current models and theories of language change (or evolution). Two approaches in particular, the concept of complex adaptive systems and construction grammar, have been combined in integrated approaches that seek to explain both language emergence and language change over historical time. I discuss the potential and limitations of this integrated approach, and I argue that there is still some unexplored potential for cross-fertilization.

Social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems: modeling and policy implications

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Levin ◽  
Tasos Xepapadeas ◽  
Anne-Sophie Crépin ◽  
Jon Norberg ◽  
Aart de Zeeuw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Strategic Interactions ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling

AbstractSystems linking people and nature, known as social-ecological systems, are increasingly understood as complex adaptive systems. Essential features of these complex adaptive systems – such as nonlinear feedbacks, strategic interactions, individual and spatial heterogeneity, and varying time scales – pose substantial challenges for modeling. However, ignoring these characteristics can distort our picture of how these systems work, causing policies to be less effective or even counterproductive. In this paper we present recent developments in modeling social-ecological systems, illustrate some of these challenges with examples related to coral reefs and grasslands, and identify the implications for economic and policy analysis.

scholarly journals Reports of the AAAI 2011 Fall Symposia

AI Magazine ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Sam Blisard ◽  
Ted Carmichael ◽  
Li Ding ◽  
Tim Finin ◽  
Wende Frost ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Question Generation ◽  
Multiagent Coordination ◽  
Symposium Series ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Energy Information

The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence was pleased to present the 2011 Fall Symposium Series, held Friday through Sunday, November 4–6, at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Virginia. The titles of the seven symposia are as follows: (1) Advances in Cognitive Systems; (2) Building Representations of Common Ground with Intelligent Agents; (3) Complex Adaptive Systems: Energy, Information and Intelligence; (4) Multiagent Coordination under Uncertainty; (5) Open Government Knowledge: AI Opportunities and Challenges; (6) Question Generation; and (7) Robot-Human Teamwork in Dynamic Adverse Environment. The highlights of each symposium are presented in this report.

scholarly journals The Hierarchical Organization of Syntax

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babak Ravandi ◽  
Valentina Concu
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Hierarchical Organization ◽  
Zipf’S Law ◽  
Zipf's Law ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Complex Adaptive

Abstract Hierarchies are the backbones of complex systems and their analysis allows for a deeper understanding of their structure and how they evolve. We consider languages to be also complex adaptive systems. Hence, we analyzed the hierarchical organization of historical syntactic networks from German that were created from a corpus of texts from the 11th to 17th centuries. We tracked the emergence of syntactic structures in these networks and mapped them to specific communicative needs. We named these emerging structures communicative hierarchies. We hypothesise that the communicative needs of speakers are the organizational force of syntax. We propose that the emergence of these multiple communicative hierarchies is what shapes syntax, and that these hierarchies are the prerequisite to the Zipf's law. The emergence of communicative hierarchies indicates that the objective of language evolution is not only to increase the efficiency of transferring information. Language is also evolving to increase our capacity to communicate more sophisticated abstractions as we advance as a species.

scholarly journals Managing forests in a changing world: the need for a systemic approach. A review

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. eR01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Nocentini ◽  
Gérard Buttoud ◽  
Orazio Ciancio ◽  
Piermaria Corona
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Forest Dynamics ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Systemic Approach ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Ethical Approach ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Management Approaches

Aim of study: The paper is a scientific commented discussion with the aim of defining a framework which allows both a comprehensive vision of forest dynamics, as well as an adaptive management approach and policy procedures more suited to a changing and inherently unpredictable world.Main results: We identify the main challenges facing forestry in relation to recent developments in forestry thinking, i.e. the paradox of aiming at sustainability in a changing environment, a shifting perception of the relationship between ecological and social systems, the recognition of forest ecosystems as complex adaptive systems, the need for integrating the social and ecological dimensions of forestry into a single framework, and the growing awareness of the importance of the ethical approach to the forest. We propose the concept of “systemic forestry” as a paradigm for better understanding forest dynamics and for guiding management and public actions at various levels. We compare the systemic approach with different silvicultural and forest management approaches which have been proposed in the last decades.Research highlights: Our analysis shows that a systemic approach to forestry has five main consequences: 1. forestry is viewed as a part of landscape dynamics through a multi-sectoral coordination, 2. the logic of action changes from norm to process, 3. conservation is a dynamic search for resilience, 4. multi-functionality is achieved through a multi-entries approach integrating ecological, social and economic components of sustainability, 5. forestry institutions are reframed to address the issue of changing interactions among actors, 6. a change in the ethical approach to the forest is needed.

scholarly journals Öffentlichkeit als komplexes System [The public sphere as a complex system]

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Waldherr
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
The Public Sphere

In this paper, I show how concepts of complexity can be used to explain dynamic macro phenomenaof the public sphere, such as news waves, polarization, or communication cascades. Ialso discuss to what extent public spheres have grown more complex in the course of digitalization,and how this affects the dynamics of public communication processes. My focus is tofurther develop existing system theoretical approaches of the public sphere towards a theoryof complex, adaptive systems that can be connected to other models of public spheres; notablynetwork and public arenas models, as well as to interdisciplinary complexity research. Iintroduce the fundamental characteristics of complex systems; i.e. interconnectedness, selforganization,emergence, nonlinearity and heterogeneity, showing how they apply to the systemof the public sphere in its contemporary digitized context. I then point out the methodologicalconsequences of this perspective, and conclude by commenting on its integrative potentialfor theory development in public sphere research.

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