Selection and Drift in Language
Charles Yang, MIT, University of Pennsylvania
Friday, February 1, 2008, 4:00 PM
The analogy between biological evolution and language change was noted by none other than Darwin himself and has continued to inspire linguistic research. However, maximum benefits can only be extracted from this connection when quantitative models of evolution find their counterpart in linguistics--and this can happen only when the formal structures of language, and the mechanisms of linguistic transmission (i.e., language acquisition), are understood in sufficient details to allow extrapolations to language change.
Such a move may not be premature. The mathematical models of natural selection and genetic drift provide a unified framework for dealing with both deterministic and non-deterministic factors in language learning and change. Along the way we provide novel explanations for (a) the loss of Verb Second (V2) in Western Romance but not Germanic languages and (b) the changes in the Old English strong verb systems as a result of lexical diffusion.
Last Modified: January 28, 2008