The Cultural Evolution of Language

Language is one of only a handful of human cultural systems that is both unique to our species, and universal. This chapter will focus on the cultural evolution of language, situating this alongside the phylogenetic and developmental timescales which also feed into the evolution of language. The chapter begins by outlining the relationship between the emergence of human language and the language faculty and the more rapid, ongoing processes of language change, which are often framed as predominantly cultural. In particular, previous work has emphasised how these timescales interact, and how cultural factors in particular shape which aspects of language exhibit broad cross-cultural variation or stability. This is followed by detailed evidence for this relationship from three domains, focusing on the role of cultural evolution in language as observed in natural language (both historical corpora and cross linguistic data), the cultural evolution of language in agent-based models, and finally, experimental studies of the cultural evolution of language. We conclude that the study of the cultural evolution of language forms an important data-rich model for the study of the evolution of cultural systems more generally, while also providing key insights into the specific dynamics of this uniquely human behaviour.

Remarks on Multimodality: Grammatical Interactions in the Parallel Architecture

Language is typically embedded in multimodal communication, yet models of linguistic competence do not often incorporate this complexity. Meanwhile, speech, gesture, and/or pictures are each considered as indivisible components of multimodal messages. Here, we argue that multimodality should not be characterized by whole interacting behaviors, but by interactions of similar substructures which permeate across expressive behaviors. These structures comprise a unified architecture and align within Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture: a modality, meaning, and grammar. Because this tripartite architecture persists across modalities, interactions can manifest within each of these substructures. Interactions between modalities alone create correspondences in time (ex. speech with gesture) or space (ex. writing with pictures) of the sensory signals, while multimodal meaning-making balances how modalities carry “semantic weight” for the gist of the whole expression. Here we focus primarily on interactions between grammars, which contrast across two variables: symmetry, related to the complexity of the grammars, and allocation, related to the relative independence of interacting grammars. While independent allocations keep grammars separate, substitutive allocation inserts expressions from one grammar into those of another. We show that substitution operates in interactions between all three natural modalities (vocal, bodily, graphic), and also in unimodal contexts within and between languages, as in codeswitching. Altogether, we argue that unimodal and multimodal expressions arise as emergent interactive states from a unified cognitive architecture, heralding a reconsideration of the “language faculty” itself.

Third Factors in Language Variation and Change

In this pioneering study, a world-renowned generative syntactician explores the impact of phenomena known as 'third factors' on syntactic change. Generative syntax has in recent times incorporated third factors – factors not specific to the language faculty – into its framework, including minimal search, labelling, determinacy and economy. Van Gelderen's study applies these principles to language change, arguing that change is a cyclical process, and that third factor principles must combine with linguistic information to fully account for the cyclical development of 'optimal' language structures. Third Factor Principles also account for language variation around that-trace phenomena, CP-deletion, and the presence of expletives and Verb-second. By linking insights from recent theoretical advances in generative syntax to phenomena from language variation and change, this book provides a unique perspective, making it essential reading for academic researchers and students in syntactic theory and historical linguistics.

Bilinguals have a single computational system but two compartmentalized phonological grammars: Evidence from code-switching

Classic linguistic models, such as Chomsky’s minimalist schematization of the human language faculty, were typically based on a ‘monolingual ideal’. More recently, models have been extended to bilingual cognition. For instance, MacSwan (2000) posited that bilinguals possess a single syntactic computational system and, crucially, two (or more) phonological grammars. The current paper examines this possible architecture of the bilingual language faculty by using code-switching data, since this type of speech is unique to bilingual and multilingual individuals. Specifically, the natural speech Maria, a habitual Spanish-English code-switcher from the Bangor Miami Corpus, was examined. For the interface of phonology, an analysis was completed on the frequency of syllabic structures used by Maria. Phonotactics were examined as Spanish and English impose differential restrictions on complex onsets and codas. The results indicated that Maria’s language of use impacted the phonotactics of her speech, but that the context of use (unilingual or code-switched) did not. This suggests that Maria was alternating between two independent phonological grammars when she was code-switching. For the interface of morphosyntax, syntactic dependencies within Maria’s code-switched speech and past literature were consulted. The evidence illustrates that syntactic dependencies are indeed established within code-switched sentences, indicating that such constructions are derived from a single syntactic subset. Thus, the quantitative and qualitative results from this paper wholly support MacSwan’s original conjectures regarding the bilingual language faculty: bilingual cognition appears to be composed of a single computational system which builds multi-language syntactic structures, and more than one phonological grammar.

THE LOGICAL STRUCTURE OF LINGUISTIC THEORY: البنية المنطقية للنظرية اللسانية: ستيفن ر. أندرسون، جامعة ييل

The object of inquiry in Linguistics is the human ability to acquire and use a natural language, and the goal of linguistic theory is an explicit characterization of that ability. Looking at the communicative abilities of other species, it becomes clear that our linguistic ability is specific to our species, undoubtedly a product of our biology. But how do we go about determining the specifics of this Language faculty? _here are two primary ways in which we infer the nature of Language from the properties of individual languages: arguments from the Poverty of the Stimulus, and the search for universals that characterize every natural language. Arguments of the first sort are not easy to construct (though not as difficult as sometimes suggested), and apply only to a tiny part of Language as a whole. Arguments from universals or typological generalizations are also quite problematic. In phonology, morphology, and syntax, factors of historical development, functional underpinnings, limitations of the learning situation, among others conspire to compromise the explanatory value of arguments from observed cross-linguistic regularities. Confounding the situation is the likelihood that properties found across languages as a consequence of such external forces have been incorporated into the Language faculty evolutionarily through the ‘Baldwin Effect.’ _e conflict between the biologically based specificity of the human Language faculty and the difficulty of establishing most of its properties in a secure way cannot, however, be avoided by ignoring or denying the reality of either of its poles.

A Study on Common Errors in Vietnamese - English Transl tion by English majors Students at Ho Chi Minh University of Food Industry (HUFI)

Along with the development of the translation industry, the translation of two different languages still faces many difficulties. The difference in the grammatical structure and symbols of the two languages makes it difficult for translators to translate Vietnamese and vice versa. This study aims to investigate common errors in Vietnamese - English translation that English majors students at Ho Chi Minh University of food industry often make within in the process of translating Vietnamese sentence structures into English, this paper helps find solutions to enhance students' translation skills. The data have been collected from 96 English majors students of the Foreign Language Faculty, Ho Chi Minh University of food industry participated. Participants were asked to translate eleven short sentences from Vietnamese into English; the data was collected from the translation texts of these students using the same source text. The results revealed that common errors made by the students included grammatical errors, translate word to word, wrong form and article. Finally, the study suggests some solutions to assist these students overcome their difficulties also as improve their translating method in practicing translating Vietnamese - English speeches.

A syntactic approach to gender assignment in Spanish–English bilingual speech

This paper examines gender assignment in Spanish–English bilingual speech and develops a theoretical account of gender features in the bilingual grammar on the basis of the linguistic properties that correlate with gender assignment. An analysis of 76 sociolinguistic interviews from an autonomous bilingual community in Southern Arizona, U.S. (Carvalho 2012) reveals three key findings in terms of gender assignment in Spanish Det–English Noun switched DPs (i.e., el industry ‘the.M.SG’): (i) biological sex categorically determines gender assignment with human-denoting nouns; (ii) frequent inanimate nouns that have Spanish feminine counterparts are feminine in bilingual speech; (iii) masculine is a prevailing default gender. Following Kramer’s (2015) proposal of gender features, it is argued that an interpretable [+/-FEM] feature encodes biological sex in the grammar whereby a category-neutral √ combines with a n hosting an interpretable [+/-FEM] feature and triggers feminine (i.e., la coach ‘the.F.SG’) or masculine (i.e., el stepson ‘the.M.SG’) agreement. Inanimate feminine nouns are associated with an uninterpretable [+FEM] feature as the result of bilingualism (i.e., la school ‘the.F.SG’), and masculine default gender is viewed as an effect of Preminger’ (2009) failed Agree. On the basis of these findings, this paper rejects the distinct-lexicons view of the bilingual language faculty (MacSwan 2000 et seq.) and attempts to substantiate a single-lexicon approach compatible with a realizational (Late Insertion) view of the morphosyntactic model (Halle and Marantz 1993).

A Gestalt Theory Approach to Structure in Language

The fact that human language is highly structured and that, moreover, the way it is structured shows striking similarities in the world’s languages has been addressed from two different perspectives. The first, and more traditional, generative hypothesis is that the similarities are due to an innate language faculty. There is an inborn ‘grammar’ with universal principles that manifest themselves in each language and cross-linguistic variation arises due to a different parameter setting of universal principles. A second perspective is that there is no inborn, innate language faculty, but that instead structure emerges from language usage. This paper purports to develop and illustrate a third perspective, according to which the structural similarities in human languages are the result of the way the cognitive system works in perception. The essential claim is that structural properties follow from the limitations of human cognition in focus.

موضوع الحضارة والثقافة الصينية في المحتوى العلمي لتدريس اللغة الصينية في مصر قسم اللغة الصينية بكلية آداب جامعة القاهرة نموذجًا / Chinese Civilization and Culture in the Content of Chinese Language Teaching in Egypt: Department of Chinese Language, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University as a Model

The courses of civilization and culture are covered within the content of many departments of the Chinese language in Egyptian universities, but only on miscellaneous information and selections chosen randomly from the chapters of the cultural and history of China. Inspite of its practical functions in general, educational and research process of the ancient culture of these Egyptian and Arab academic institutions require specialized scientific treatment in the coming days, to explore an educational approach to “culture” as a fifth language skill, and thus benefit from Chinese and international efforts in teaching the language and its culture.

Distributional learning of recursive structures

Languages differ regarding the depth, structure, and syntactic domains of recursive structures. Even within a single language, some structures allow infinite self-embedding while others are more restricted. For example, English allows infinite free embedding of the prenominal genitive -s, whereas the postnominal genitive of is largely restricted to only one level and to a limited set of items. Therefore, while the ability for recursion is considered as a crucial part of the language faculty, speakers need to learn from experience which specific structures allow free embedding and which do not. One effort to account for the mechanism that underlies this learning process, the distributional learning proposal, suggests that the recursion of a structure (e.g. X1’s-X2) is licensed if the X1 position and the X2 position are productively substitutable in the input. A series of corpus studies have confirmed the availability of such distributional cues in child directed speech. The present study further tests the distributional learning proposal with an artificial language learning experiment. We found that, as predicted, participants exposed to productive input were more likely to accept unattested strings at both one and two-embedding levels than participants exposed to unproductive input. Therefore, our results suggest that speakers can indeed use distributional information at one level to learn whether or not a structure is freely recursive.