Language dynamics

Language dynamics is a rapidly growing field that focuses on all processes related to the evolution, emergence, change, competition and extinction of languages. One of the major outcomes from this field of research is that language can be viewed as a complex adaptive dynamical system that evolves through the process of self-organization and self-regulation. According to this viewpoint, a community of language users can be seen as a dynamical system that collectively solves the problem of developing a shared communication framework through the back-and-forth signaling between the participating individuals.

Our group is interested in the interaction of the cognitive and socio-cultural factors that play a key role in language dynamics with a special focus on how a population develops a shared set of names (Naming Game), categories (Category Game), or rules (Rule Dynamics) from scratch.  The basic framework is grounded in theories of Language Games, but frequently borrows concepts and methods from the areas of statistical physics and complex systems science. These areas have proven to be extremely powerful in providing various quantitative insights into language emergence and evolution.

Topics

Rule DynamicsCategory GameNaming Game

Bibliography

48 entries « 2 of 10 »

2014

Pucci, Lorenzo; Gravino, Pietro; Servedio, Vito DP

Modeling the emergence of a new language: Naming Game with hybridization (Incollection)

Self-Organizing Systems, pp. 78–89, Springer, 2014.

(BibTeX)

Cuskley, Christine; Pugliese, Martina; Castellano, Claudio; Colaiori, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca

Internal and External Dynamics in Language: Evidence from Verb Regularity in a Historical Corpus of English (Journal Article)

PLoS ONE, 9 , 2014.

(Abstract | Links | BibTeX)

Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca

Language games: Comment on "Modelling language evolution: Examples and predictions" by Tao Gong, Lan Shuai, Menghan Zhang (Journal Article)

Physics of Life Reviews, 11 (2), pp. 311 - 312, 2014, ISSN: 1571-0645.

(Links | BibTeX)

Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca

Language Games. Comment on "Modeling language evolution: examples and predictions" by Tao Gong (Journal Article)

PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS, 11 , pp. 311–312, 2014.

(Links | BibTeX)

2013

Maity, Suman Kalyan; Mukherjee, Animesh; Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio

Emergence of fast agreement in an overhearing population: The case of the naming game (Journal Article)

EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 101 , 2013.

(Abstract | BibTeX)

48 entries « 2 of 10 »