Individual variation, network heterogeneity and linguistic complexity:
which way does the relationship go?
Sébastien Lerique, Dan Dediu, Márton Karsai,
& Jean-Philippe Magué
The problem
Language must adapt to many
- ≠ landscapes
- ≠ situations
- ≠ sub-communities
- ≠ material conditions
- ≠ idiosyncracies
... in a complex network
Possible mechanisms
Lowest common denominator
- “Train window” communication rudimentary signs
- Advertisements pre-filtered interpretations
- Administrative language “syntax of abridgement” Marcuse 1964
- Portable partial acts Di Paolo et al. 2018
Possible mechanisms
Super redundant-robust-complex
- Repairing breakdowns
- Articulating something
- Meaning something
- Negotiating turns & interaction
can each be done in many ways
Redundancy turns into complexity when not needed
Hypothesis
- Standing variation in all aspects of language fuel for redundancy
- Network heterogeneity pressure for adaptation
- Interactional disorder Di Paolo et al. 2018
Are core factors generating redundancy,
robustness & complexity
Examples
Vocal tract anatomy and articulation Moisik & Dediu 2017
Chronic otitis media in Australian Aboriginal populations Butcher 2013
More diversity than expected Evans & Levinson 2009
Japanese business-card exchange rules Cuffari et al. 2015
Inspirations
Evolutionary biology
- Niche construction speakers construct their environment
- Developmental plasticity learners adapt to their context
- Evolution of development more constraints and opportunities
Adaptation to different environments is dealt with dynamic,
recursive and complex processes
Inspirations
Population structure & variation
Minor changes in a population can have macroscopic effects Granovetter 1978 Bikhchandani et al. 1992
Projects
Simulations
?
When competing, how many nodes/edges
are necessary for global adoption?
What are the effects of
- node diversity
- network topology
- placement of seed nodes or constrained edges
Projects
Experiments
- One-way communication
~ Iterated Learning - Interactive communication
~ Experimental Semiotics - Minimal interactive coupling
~ Perceptual crossing
playing with
- Network topology
- Edge constraints
- Individual sensitivites
De Jaegher et al. 2010 [CC-BY]
Icons by Font Awesome [CC-BY]
Possibly Twitter
25% GMT+0/1
tweets in French