Linguistic evolution through language acquisition: formal and computational models, chapter Bootstrapping grounded word semantic (original) (raw)
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In 1990, when Steven Pinker and Paul Bloom proposed that 'there is every reason to believe that a specialization for grammar evolved by a conventional neo-Darwinian process'(Pinker and Bloom, 1990), the consensus in linguistics had been, for a long time, quite the opposite:'It is perfectly safe to attribute this development to ���natural selection���, so long as we realize that there is no substance to this assertion'(Noam Chomsky, Language and Mind, 1972, p. 97).
The major transitions in the evolution of language
The origins of human language, with its extraordinarily complex structure and multitude of functions, remains among the most challenging problems for evolutionary biology and the cognitive sciences. Although many will agree progress on this issue would have important consequences for linguistic theory, many remain sceptical about whether the topic is amenable to rigorous, scientific research at all. Complementing recent developments toward better empirical validation, this thesis explores how formal models from both linguistics and evolutionary biology can help to constrain the many theories and scenarios in this field. I first review a number of foundational mathematical models from three branches of evolutionary biology -- population genetics, evolutionary game theory and social evolution theory -- and discuss the relation between them. This discussion yields a list of ten requirements on evolutionary scenarios for language, and highlights the assumptions implicit in the various formalisms. I then look in more details at one specific step-by-step scenario, proposed by Ray Jackendoff, and consider the linguistic formalisms that could be used to characterise the evolutionary transitions from one stage to the next. I conclude from this review that the main challenges in evolutionary linguistics are to explain how three major linguistic innovations -- combinatorial phonology, compositional semantics and hierarchical phrase-structure -- could have spread through a population where they are initially rare. In the second part of the thesis, I critically evaluate some existing formal models of each of these major transitions and present three novel alternatives. In an abstract model of the evolution of speech sounds (viewed as trajectories through an acoustic space), I show that combinatorial phonology is a solution for robustness against noise and the only evolutionary stable strategy (ESS). In a model of the evolution of simple lexicons in a noisy environment, I show that the optimal lexicon uses a structured mapping from meanings to sounds, providing a rudimentary compositional semantics. Lexicons with this property are also ESS's. Finally, in a model of the evolution and acquisition of context-free grammars, I evaluate the conditions under which hierarchical phrase-structure will be favoured by natural selection, or will be the outcome of a process of cultural evolution. In the last chapter of the thesis, I discuss the implications of these models for the debates in linguistics on innateness and learnability, and on the nature of language universals. A mainly negative point to make is that formal learnability results cannot be used as evidence for an innate, language-specific specialisation for language. A positive point is that with the evolutionary models of language, we can begin to understand how universal properties and tendencies in natural languages can result from the intricate interaction between innate learning biases and a process of cultural evolution over many generations.
Linguistic Evolution through Language Acquisition
2002
The negotiation and acquisition of recursive grammars as a result of competition among exemplars John Batali Learning, bottlenecks and the evolution of recursive syntax Simon Kirby Theories of cultural evolution and their application to language change Partha Niyogi The learning guided evolution of natural language William J. Turkel Grammatical acquisition and linguistic selection Ted Briscoe v vi Contents Expression/induction models of language evolution: dimensions and issues
A Grammatical View of Language Evolution
akira.ruc.dk
Abstract. Language evolves gradually through its use: over time, new forms come into fashion and others become obsolete. While traditionally a grammar provides a snapshot of an individual's or a society's linguistic competence at a given point in time, our aim is to extend ...
Computational Linguistics - COLI, 2003
This book is really two books, which do not communicate with each other once one gets past the editor's introduction in chapter 1. The chapters by Worden, Batali, Kirby, and Hurford (see Table 1), whom I shall refer to collectively as WBKH, use computer simulation to demonstrate that agents with no innate syntactic structure can interact to create and preserve both the lexicon and syntax of languages over many generations. On the other hand, the chapters by Niyogi, Turkel, and Briscoe (collectively, NTB) all base their simulations on an innate Universal Grammar-the general form of grammar is built into the agents, and the lexicon is given little or no importance. I shall briefly outline the other two chapters, by Oliphant and by Steels and Kaplan, in the context of the WBHK work below. All the authors assume that the agents under study have a great deal of "innate" language-related structure. The "linguistic evolution" studied here is not the evolu
ESSAYS ON THE EVOLUTIONARY-SYNTHETIC THEORY OF LANGUAGE_Selected chapters
Academic Studies Press, Brighton, USA; LRC Publishing House, Moscow, Russia, 2019
The monograph implements a multidisciplinary approach in describing language (a) in its ontogenetic development, and (b) in its close interrelationship with other human subsystems: thought, memory, activity, etc. The focus is on the semantic component of the evolutionary-synthetic theory. The major results of the monograph are as follows: - the mechanisms for grammatical polysemy are analysed; - the structural unity of artefact and natural concepts (such as CHAIR, ROAD, LAKE, RIVER, TREE) are brought to light; - object and motor concepts are defined in terms of the language of thought, and their representation in neurobiological memory codes is discussed; - the hierarchic structure of basic meanings of concrete nouns is shown to arise as a result of their step-by-step development in ontogeny. Reviews “The book reads with great interest sustained by both the core ideas of the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language (ESToL) itself―which may be assessed differently by different readers―and the detailed analysis of numerous examples that illustrate the propositions advanced by the author. The main merit of the book is that the author, while declaring a deep crisis in contemporary theoretical linguistics, at the same time suggests a way out of this crisis with the course outlined in the ESToL.” Alexander Kravchenko, English Philology, Irkutsk State University (Russia) “Alexey Koshelev takes the next crucial step, toward a synthesis of cognitive and linguistic abilities in their interrelated development, toward a systematic unity of universal and specific, abstract and concrete in language. He begins with patterns in the cognition of objects, from the most basic and holistic representations of an object to the delineation of its distinct features and, further, to the synthesis of the accumulated knowledge of the various facets of an object into a cohesive system for its representation.” Liudmila Zubkova, People’s Friendship University of Russia [translation J. Smith] “Alexey Koshelev presents an integral conception of language as a sum total of lexicon and grammar, developed from the perspective of child cognitive development and language acquisition. The unquestionable merit of such a conception is the uniform and consistent approach to analysis and description of a range of linguistic phenomena; this approach is characterized by the deliberate use of a well-grounded methodology and an original set of concepts.” Tat’iana Screbtsova, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia)
We survey recent computer modelling research of language evolution, focusing on a rule-based model simulating the lexiconsyntax coevolution and an equation-based model quantifying the language competition dynamics. We discuss four predictions of these models: (a) correlation between domain-general abilities (e.g. sequential learning) and language-specific mechanisms (e.g. word order processing); (b) coevolution of language and relevant competences (e.g. joint attention); (c) effects of cultural transmission and social structure on linguistic understandability; and (d) commonalities between linguistic, biological, and physical phenomena. All these contribute significantly to our understanding of the evolutions of language structures, individual learning mechanisms, and relevant biological and socio-cultural factors. We conclude the survey by highlighting three future directions of modelling studies of language evolution: (a) adopting experimental approaches for model evaluation; (b) consolidating empirical foundations of models; and (c) multi-disciplinary collaboration among modelling, linguistics, and other relevant disciplines.
In any interdisciplinary endeavour that aims to link the comparative ethology of animals with linguistics, a crucial question is which theory of language is to serve as a starting point. The challenge lies in adequately specifying the grammar of human languages in an evolutionary perspective. The contribution of linguistics to such interdisciplinary research has often been inadequate for two reasons. First of all, current linguistic theories are usually based on a longstanding tradition of normative grammar and an analysis of written language—hence the relevance of grammaticality and competence in Chomsky’s models. In everyday speech language use is more variable and more context-dependent and changes-in-progress are pervasive. If we compare humans to animals, the dominant informal behaviour of humans should be the starting point for comparisons and not highly formalized behaviours regulated by institutions like schools, academies, etc. Second, linguists have a historical bias towards logical (analytic) descriptions and lack dynamic or self-organizing models. Therefore classificatory devices and hierarchical knowledge trees like phrase structures are emphasized, while the underlying forces, goals, benefits, trends, and changes are neglected. As a consequence, the intrinsic relation of language to holistic action patterns or to multichannel cognition (visual imagination, musical structure) is misrepresented in the standard models. Evolutionary biologists should turn instead to cognitive linguistics (semantics) and to pragmatic and dynamic linguistics (cf. Wildgen, 1994). In an interdisciplinary cooperation between biologists, psychologists, and linguists, one must assume that new models will be necessary that are not just versions of current types of grammars. In the following sections I will sketch the features of a model suitable for cooperative research in evolutionary biology and linguistics.