Title :
A simulative study of the roles of cultural transmission in language evolution
Author :
Gong, Tao ; Minett, James W. ; Wang, William S.
Author_Institution :
Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Abstract :
A multi-agent computational model is proposed to simulate language evolution in an acquisition framework. This framework involves many major forms of cultural transmission, and the simulation results of the model systematically examine the role of cultural transmission in language emergence and maintenance. In addition, this study discusses the effects of conventionalization during horizontal transmission on diffusing linguistic innovations, maintaining high levels of linguistic understandability, and triggering inevitable changes in the communal languages across generations. All these reflect that conventionalization could be a self-organizing property of the human communication system that drives language evolution.
Keywords :
digital simulation; knowledge acquisition; linguistics; multi-agent systems; acquisition framework; cultural transmission; language emergence; language evolution simulation; language maintenance; linguistic innovations; multiagent computational model; Cultural differences; Evolutionary computation;
Conference_Titel :
Evolutionary Computation, 2007. CEC 2007. IEEE Congress on
Conference_Location :
Singapore
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-1339-3
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-1340-9
DOI :
10.1109/CEC.2007.4424558