S. Hartmann, M. Pleyer, Sławomir Wacewicz, A. Benítez‐Burraco, Przemysław Żywiczyński
{"title":"Hypotheses and Definitions in Language Evolution Research","authors":"S. Hartmann, M. Pleyer, Sławomir Wacewicz, A. Benítez‐Burraco, Przemysław Żywiczyński","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9191","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45341379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why Don’t Languages Grammaticalize [±poisonous]?","authors":"Evelina Leivada, L. Barceló-Coblijn","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9155","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49489860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper gives an analysis of an attractor neural network model dubbed the Phonological Latching Network. The model appears to reproduce certain quintessentially phonological phenomena, despite not having any of these phonological behaviours programmed or taught to the model. Rather, assimilation, segmental-OCP, and sonority sequencing appear to emerge spontaneously from the combination of a few basic brain-like ingredients with a phonology-like feature system. The significance of this can be interpreted from two angles: firstly, the fact that the model spontaneously produces attested natural language patterns can be taken as evidence of the model’s neural and psychological plausibility; and secondly, it provides a potential explanation for why these patters appear to frequently in natural language grammars. Namely, they are a consequence of latching dynamics in the brain.
{"title":"The Phonological Latching Network","authors":"Joe Stephen Bratsvedal Collins","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9159","url":null,"abstract":"This paper gives an analysis of an attractor neural network model dubbed the Phonological Latching Network. The model appears to reproduce certain quintessentially phonological phenomena, despite not having any of these phonological behaviours programmed or taught to the model. Rather, assimilation, segmental-OCP, and sonority sequencing appear to emerge spontaneously from the combination of a few basic brain-like ingredients with a phonology-like feature system. The significance of this can be interpreted from two angles: firstly, the fact that the model spontaneously produces attested natural language patterns can be taken as evidence of the model’s neural and psychological plausibility; and secondly, it provides a potential explanation for why these patters appear to frequently in natural language grammars. Namely, they are a consequence of latching dynamics in the brain.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47685492","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sławomir Wacewicz, Przemysław Żywiczyński, S. Hartmann, M. Pleyer, A. Benítez‐Burraco
Many controversies in language evolution research derive from the fact that language is itself a natural language word, which makes the underlying concept fuzzy and cumbersome, and a common perception is that progress in language evolution research is hindered because researchers do not ‘talk about the same thing’. In this article, we claim that agreement on a single, top-down definition of language is not a sine qua non for good and productive research in the field of language evolution. First, we use the example of the notion FLN (‘faculty of language in the narrow sense’) to demonstrate how the specific wording of an important top-down definition of (the faculty of) language can—surprisingly—be inconsequential to actual research practice. We then review four approaches to language evolution that we estimate to be particularly influential in the last decade. We show how their breadth precludes a single common conceptualization of language but instead leads to a family resemblance pattern, which underwrites fruitful communication between these approaches, leading to cross-fertilisation and synergies.
{"title":"Language in Language Evolution Research","authors":"Sławomir Wacewicz, Przemysław Żywiczyński, S. Hartmann, M. Pleyer, A. Benítez‐Burraco","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9157","url":null,"abstract":"Many controversies in language evolution research derive from the fact that language is itself a natural language word, which makes the underlying concept fuzzy and cumbersome, and a common perception is that progress in language evolution research is hindered because researchers do not ‘talk about the same thing’. In this article, we claim that agreement on a single, top-down definition of language is not a sine qua non for good and productive research in the field of language evolution. First, we use the example of the notion FLN (‘faculty of language in the narrow sense’) to demonstrate how the specific wording of an important top-down definition of (the faculty of) language can—surprisingly—be inconsequential to actual research practice. We then review four approaches to language evolution that we estimate to be particularly influential in the last decade. We show how their breadth precludes a single common conceptualization of language but instead leads to a family resemblance pattern, which underwrites fruitful communication between these approaches, leading to cross-fertilisation and synergies.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47313675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Whether non-human animals have an ability to learn and process center embedding, a core property of human language syntax, is still debated. Artificial-grammar learning (AGL) has been used to compare humans and animals in the learning of center embedding. However, up until now, human participants have only included adults, and data on children, who are the key players of natural language acquisition, are lacking. We created a novel game-like experimental paradigm combining the go/no-go procedure often used in animal research with the stepwise learning methods found effective in human adults’ center-embedding learning. Here we report that some children succeeded in learning a semantics-free artificial grammar with center embedding (A2B2 grammar) in the auditory modality. Although their success rate was lower than adults’, the successful children looked as efficient learners as adults. Where children struggled, their memory capacity seemed to have limited their AGL performance.
{"title":"Children’s Learning of a Semantics-Free Artificial Grammar with Center Embedding","authors":"S. Ojima, K. Okanoya","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9173","url":null,"abstract":"Whether non-human animals have an ability to learn and process center embedding, a core property of human language syntax, is still debated. Artificial-grammar learning (AGL) has been used to compare humans and animals in the learning of center embedding. However, up until now, human participants have only included adults, and data on children, who are the key players of natural language acquisition, are lacking. We created a novel game-like experimental paradigm combining the go/no-go procedure often used in animal research with the stepwise learning methods found effective in human adults’ center-embedding learning. Here we report that some children succeeded in learning a semantics-free artificial grammar with center embedding (A2B2 grammar) in the auditory modality. Although their success rate was lower than adults’, the successful children looked as efficient learners as adults. Where children struggled, their memory capacity seemed to have limited their AGL performance.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46850229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although the literature on language change has often replicated and discussed a pattern in which female speakers lead in changes that occur below the level of awareness, there is no consensus on why this pattern should arise. Interestingly, recent findings in endocrinology show that differences in prenatal testosterone exposure can impact learning patterns. In the light of these findings, we first present preliminary results consistent with the hypothesis that a biological factor, prenatal exposure to androgens, can have a small, continuous biasing effect on linguistic variation, namely the variable duration of pre-aspiration conditioned by voiceless obstruents in Tyneside English. Second, we propose an explanatory model in which the biological factor—prenatal testosterone exposure—creates subtle bias in how speakers learn linguistic variants and suggest that some reported sex effects are derivative. This model is compatible with the high tendency for females to lead in language change from below (Labov 1990: 206).
{"title":"Attention To People Like You","authors":"Mísa Hejná, Lauren Ackerman, Joel C. Wallenberg","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9171","url":null,"abstract":"Although the literature on language change has often replicated and discussed a pattern in which female speakers lead in changes that occur below the level of awareness, there is no consensus on why this pattern should arise. Interestingly, recent findings in endocrinology show that differences in prenatal testosterone exposure can impact learning patterns. In the light of these findings, we first present preliminary results consistent with the hypothesis that a biological factor, prenatal exposure to androgens, can have a small, continuous biasing effect on linguistic variation, namely the variable duration of pre-aspiration conditioned by voiceless obstruents in Tyneside English. Second, we propose an explanatory model in which the biological factor—prenatal testosterone exposure—creates subtle bias in how speakers learn linguistic variants and suggest that some reported sex effects are derivative. This model is compatible with the high tendency for females to lead in language change from below (Labov 1990: 206).","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45863870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although the literature on language change has often replicated and discussed a pattern inwhich female speakers lead in changes that occur below the level of awareness, there is noconsensus on why this pattern should arise. Two major suggestions have been put forward.On the one hand, Labov (1990) has proposed that a possible explanation may be due tocaregiver asymmetries during childhood, with women being frequently the primarycaregivers in the relevant communities. On the other hand, Eckert (2011) has suggested thatwomen are more likely to engage in ‘social engineering’ and symbolic domination than men,due to the setup of the gender roles in their communities, which makes them more likely to belinguistic innovators. Interestingly, recent findings in endocrinology show that differences inprenatal testosterone exposure can impact learning patterns. In the light of these findings, wefirst present preliminary results consistent with the hypothesis that a biological factor,prenatal exposure to androgens, can have a continuous effect on linguistic variation, namelythe variable duration of preaspiration before voiceless obstruents in Tyneside English. This isin line with findings related to f 0 reported by Ferdezi et al. (2011). Second, we propose anexplanatory model in which the biological factor – prenatal testosterone exposure – createssubtle bias in how speakers learn linguistic variants, and suggest that some reported sexeffects are derivative. This model is compatible with the fact that it is most often females wholead in language change from below, but can also account for situations in which males mightlead a change (Labov 1990: 206).
{"title":"Attention To People Like You: A Proposal Regarding Neuroendocrine Effects on Linguistic Variation","authors":"Lauren Ackerman, Mísa Hejná","doi":"10.31234/osf.io/9xn5p","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/9xn5p","url":null,"abstract":"Although the literature on language change has often replicated and discussed a pattern inwhich female speakers lead in changes that occur below the level of awareness, there is noconsensus on why this pattern should arise. Two major suggestions have been put forward.On the one hand, Labov (1990) has proposed that a possible explanation may be due tocaregiver asymmetries during childhood, with women being frequently the primarycaregivers in the relevant communities. On the other hand, Eckert (2011) has suggested thatwomen are more likely to engage in ‘social engineering’ and symbolic domination than men,due to the setup of the gender roles in their communities, which makes them more likely to belinguistic innovators. Interestingly, recent findings in endocrinology show that differences inprenatal testosterone exposure can impact learning patterns. In the light of these findings, wefirst present preliminary results consistent with the hypothesis that a biological factor,prenatal exposure to androgens, can have a continuous effect on linguistic variation, namelythe variable duration of preaspiration before voiceless obstruents in Tyneside English. This isin line with findings related to f 0 reported by Ferdezi et al. (2011). Second, we propose anexplanatory model in which the biological factor – prenatal testosterone exposure – createssubtle bias in how speakers learn linguistic variants, and suggest that some reported sexeffects are derivative. This model is compatible with the fact that it is most often females wholead in language change from below, but can also account for situations in which males mightlead a change (Labov 1990: 206).","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-20"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45708650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Comparative experiments have greatly advanced the field of biolinguistics in the 21st century, but so far very little research has focused on human perception of non-human animal vocalizations. Studies with zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) songs found that humans cannot perceive the full range of acoustic cues that zebra finches hear in their songs, although it remained unclear how much individual information is lost. Individual heterospecific discrimination by humans has only been shown with rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) voices. The present study examined whether human adults could discriminate two individual zebra finches by their songs, using a forced- choice Same-Different Paradigm. Results showed that adults can discriminate two individual zebra finches with high accuracy and without prior training. Discrimination mostly relied on differences in pitch contour, but discrimination was still possible with lower accuracy when pitch contour was removed. Future studies should expand these findings with more diverse non-human animal vocalizations.
{"title":"Humans Discriminate Individual Zebra Finches by their Song","authors":"S. Schalz, T. Dickins","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9161","url":null,"abstract":"Comparative experiments have greatly advanced the field of biolinguistics in the 21st century, but so far very little research has focused on human perception of non-human animal vocalizations. Studies with zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) songs found that humans cannot perceive the full range of acoustic cues that zebra finches hear in their songs, although it remained unclear how much individual information is lost. Individual heterospecific discrimination by humans has only been shown with rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) voices. The present study examined whether human adults could discriminate two individual zebra finches by their songs, using a forced- choice Same-Different Paradigm. Results showed that adults can discriminate two individual zebra finches with high accuracy and without prior training. Discrimination mostly relied on differences in pitch contour, but discrimination was still possible with lower accuracy when pitch contour was removed. Future studies should expand these findings with more diverse non-human animal vocalizations.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2020-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44372978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Concerning (i), I will claim that the two apparently distinct modes of operation of categorization stem from differences of ‘extraction patterns’ and thus as a precursor of Merge the particular mode of categorization such as IntCat should not be stipulated. As for (ii), I will make clear the relation between the low-order categorization involving a series of entities and the higher-order categorization involving a series of category sets in humans and non-human animals, in connection with the qualitative difference of the two types of categorization between them in the context of the evolution of human language.
{"title":"More on the Relations among Categorization, Merge and Labeling, and Their Nature","authors":"Koji Hoshi","doi":"10.5964/bioling.9147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.9147","url":null,"abstract":"Concerning (i), I will claim that the two apparently distinct modes of operation of categorization stem from differences of ‘extraction patterns’ and thus as a precursor of Merge the particular mode of categorization such as IntCat should not be stipulated. As for (ii), I will make clear the relation between the low-order categorization involving a series of entities and the higher-order categorization involving a series of category sets in humans and non-human animals, in connection with the qualitative difference of the two types of categorization between them in the context of the evolution of human language.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2019-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46740529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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