Multi-level Selection in the Emergence of Language Systematicity

Abstract

Abstract. Language can be viewed as a complex adaptive system which is continuously shaped and reshaped by the actions of its users as they try to solve communicative problems. To maintain coherence in the overall system, different language elements (sounds, words, grammatical constructions) compete with each other for global acceptance. This paper examines what happens when a language system uses systematic structure, in the sense that certain meaning-form conventions are themselves parts of larger units. We argue that in this case multi-level selection occurs: at the level of elements (e.g. tense affixes) and at the level of larger units in which these elements are used (e.g. phrases). Achieving and maintaining linguistic coherence in the population under these conditions is non-trivial. This paper shows that it is nevertheless possible when agents take multiple levels into account both for processing meaning-form associations and for consolidating the language inventory after each interaction.

The evolution of case grammar

“…Moreover, the agents do not need to differentiate between a 'higher' and a 'lower' level but can treat all links between constructions on equal footing. The results of experiment 2 confirm earlier results on multi-level selection and systematicity reported by Steels, van Trijp & Wellens (2007). In these experiments, which involved a scale-up in convergence space, multi-level selection outperforms the other strategies even more significantly.…”

“…When faced with this referential uncertainty, the agents can exploit a simple syntax for indicating to the hearer which words refer to the same object. Referential uncertainty has also been investigated from the viewpoint of pattern formation (as another pregrammatical stage, Steels, van Trijp & Wellens 2007) and as a trigger for introducing additional syntax (Steels & Wellens 2006).…”

Grammaticalization and Semantic Maps: Evidence from Artificial Language

“…Instead of traditional top-down inheritance networks, as proposed by most construction grammar theories, an alternative organization is implemented based on "multi-level selection". Steels, van Trijp, and Wellens (2007) show that abstract top-down inheritance networks do not suffice for achieving and maintaining systematicity and hence generalization accuracy in a language. The entire case grammar experiment has also been described in detail and with a specific focus on the linguistic relevance of the experiments by van Trijp (2008a).…”

IN SILICOBIOLOGY

“…• The Evolution of Communication and Signalling: How does communication arise [48,49] The question that the Serpent asks Eve in Shaw's play makes a distinction between 'Why' and 'Why not' questions. But in reality, these questions are often the same.…”