Language:
A new kind of evolutionary system

Language evolution in context

The growth of evolutionary linguistics

Evolutionary linguistics

The standard nativist answer

Evolutionary nativism

An alternative mechanism?

Where does the primary linguistic data come from?

The Iterated Learning Model
(a framework for computational simulation)

What will the agents talk about?

How do agents learn?

A simulation run

Results 1a: initial stages

Slide 14

Results 1b: many generations later…

Slide 16

Quantitative results: languages evolve

What’s going on?

Can any irregularity survive?

Another simulation…

Results 2a: early protolanguage stage

Results 2b: later stages, regulars

Results 2c: occasional, but short-lived irregulars

Frequency effects

Frequency distribution

Results 3: frequent=irregular infrequent=regular

Language is an adaptive system in its own right

Extensions

Conclusions