Language complexity

Content interrogatives in a sample of 50 languages

by Lachlan Mackenzie

Published in Lingua 119.8. 1131-1163. DOI: 10.1916/j.lingua.2007.12.005. 2009.

Six categories of content interrogatives (roughly, wh-forms) are distinguished in a representative sample of 50... more Six categories of content interrogatives (roughly, wh-forms) are distinguished in a representative sample of 50 languages, namely those eliciting individuals (x), locations (l), times (t), manners (m), quantities (q) and reasons (r), using categories recognized in Functional Discourse Grammar. The hypothesis is examined that, on the assumption that the named categories show increasing cognitive complexity, there will be parallel degrees of system, item and signal complexity, such that an implicational hierarchy can be formulated. It is demonstrated that item complexity (judged by phonemic weight) does gradually increase from x to r, with only time (t) deviating from this pattern. However, a correlation with system complexity is confirmed only for the extremes of the proposed hierarchy, and cognitive complexity is shown to have only limited impact upon signal complexity, i.e. morphosyntactic relatedness. Some suggestions are put forward to explain the imperfect corroboration of the hypothesis.

DE L'IDENTIFICATION DES LANGUES À LA COMPLEXITÉ PHONOLOGIQUE VOLUME I - SYNTHÈSE & PERSPECTIVES

by François Pellegrino

Across-Language Perspective on Speech Information Rate

by François Pellegrino

Every Moral Has A Story, Simpler Moral, Simpler Story

by Christina Dietz

forthcoming in Noumena

In this paper, I hope to show that it’s possible to have moral/evaluative judgments in primitive languages. I will... more In this paper, I hope to show that it’s possible to have moral/evaluative judgments in primitive languages. I will argue that the complexity of a language invariably determines the complexity of a moral or evaluative judgment. In The Evolution of Morality, Richard Joyce does not seem to give the kinds of primitive languages I will talk about any consideration. If I am right, then it will follow that many of Joyce’s requirements for a moral language are mistakenly high.

I will argue that Joyce’s account of language (and as such, moral judgments) does not take relevant degrees of language complexity into account. As such, Joyce’s argument that language is a prerequisite for making moral judgments is weakened by the high complexity standard he has for a moral language. Such high standards of language complexity are unnecessary and have controversial consequences. I hope my thesis will provide a constructive alternative that Joyce can adopt without any serious consequences.

Lingüística general: elementos para un paradigma integrador desde la perspectiva de complejidad [General linguistics: Elements for an integrative paradigm from the complexity perspective]

by Albert Bastardas-Boada

Published in 'LinRed' 11-11-2003, pp. 1-23.

The 'complexity' approach can be positive and very helpful for General Linguistics theory because departs from: a) the... more The 'complexity' approach can be positive and very helpful for General Linguistics theory because departs from: a) the idea that knowledge or meaning can exist without a being who produces them, b) the fragmented and reductionist view of reality and its too mechanistic oriented images, c) the 'linear' causality
models, d) the tendency to dichotomise the categories about reality, e) the 'third excluded' Aristotelian principle (binary logic: if something is here it is not there), f) the disappearance of the mind in some 'higher' social sciences, g) an inadequate approach of the relationships between the whole and its parts, and, h) a
perspective on creativity too much based on logic and not on 'artistic' intuition and imagination in science.

Complexity and interaction: comparing the development of L1 and L2

by Minna Suni

Minna Suni and Lea Nieminen 2011. Complexity and interaction: comparing the development of L1 and L2. ESUKA - JEFUL 2011, 2-2, 215-236.

In research into first and second language development, the focus has mainly been either on the formal features of... more In research into first and second language development, the focus has mainly been either on the formal features of learner language alone (both L1 and L2) or on the interaction between learners and their caretakers (L1) or native speaker peers (L2).These research traditions have been kept apart even though it has been widely acknowledged that both first and second languages are appropriated essentially in social interaction. This paper aims to strengthen the connection between social and formal approaches by combining interactional views with those focusing on the structural complexity of learner language. Some excerpts from L1 and L2 interaction data (in the Finnish language) are discussed. It is suggested that segmentation of linguistic material occurs in everyday situations and serves as a link between interaction and the growth of structural complexity in learner language. To situate this argument into a broader theoretical framework, various socially oriented research paradigms are briefly discussed.

Keywords: first language, second language, interaction, structural complexity, segmentation, Finnish language

On constructing a research model for historical cognitive linguistics (HCL): Some theoretical considerations

by Roslyn Frank

Full citation reference:

Frank, Roslyn M. & Nathalie Gontier. 2010 "On constructing a research model for historical cognitive linguistics (HCL): Some theoretical considerations." In Winter, M.E., Tissari, H. & Allan, K. (eds). Historical cognitive linguistics, pp. 31-69. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. (Book series: Cognitive Linguistics Research, nr 47)

This paper is the uncorrected proof.

This paper examines how historical cognitive linguistics can benefit methodologically through the application of the... more This paper examines how historical cognitive linguistics can benefit methodologically through the application of the notion of language as a complex adaptive system. The idea that languages are complex adaptive systems (CAS) was introduced initially in computational evolutionary linguistics, a discipline that was and remains inspired by biological, systems theoretical approaches to the evolution of life. Here the way that the CAS approach serves to replace older historical linguistic notions of languages as organisms and languages as species is explained as well as how the CAS approach can be generalized to encompass linguistic domains. Specifically, an overview of the CAS approach and its implementation in linguistics is provided with an emphasis on stigmergic, embodied, usage-based and socio-culturally situated language studies in particular.

Keywords: complex adaptive systems, evolutionary linguistics, historical and computational linguistics, language evolution, stigmergy, social cognitive linguistics, distributed and situated cognition, genes/ memes/linguemes, usage-based models