The Adaptive Value Of Languages Non Linguistic Causes Of Language Diversity

Author : Antonio Benítez-Burraco,Steven Moran
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 179 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2018-11-08
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9782889456314

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The Adaptive Value of Languages: Non-Linguistic Causes of Language Diversity by Antonio Benítez-Burraco,Steven Moran Pdf

The goal of this eBook is to shed light on the non-linguistic causes of language diversity, and in particular, to explore the possibility that some aspects of the structure of languages may result from an adaptation to the natural and/or human-made environment. Traditionally, language diversity has been claimed to result from random, internally-motivated changes in language structure. However, ongoing research suggests instead that different factors that are external to language can promote language change and ultimately account for aspects of language diversity, specifically features of the social and physical environments. The contributions in this eBook discuss whether some aspects of languages are an adaptation to ecological, social, or even technological niches.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:1368411707

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The Adaptive Value of Languages: Non-Linguistic Causes of Language Diversity by Anonim Pdf

The goal of this eBook is to shed light on the non-linguistic causes of language diversity, and in particular, to explore the possibility that some aspects of the structure of languages may result from an adaptation to the natural and/or human-made environment. Traditionally, language diversity has been claimed to result from random, internally-motivated changes in language structure. However, ongoing research suggests instead that different factors that are external to language can promote language change and ultimately account for aspects of language diversity, specifically features of the social and physical environments. The contributions in this eBook discuss whether some aspects of languages are an adaptation to ecological, social, or even technological niches.

Author : Antonio Benítez-Burraco,Steven Moran
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 131 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2024-03-18
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9782832546468

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The Adaptive Value of Languages: Non-linguistic Causes of Language Diversity, volume II by Antonio Benítez-Burraco,Steven Moran Pdf

This Research Topic is the second volume of "The Adaptive Value of Languages: Non-Linguistic Causes of Language Diversity". Please see the first volume here.The goal of this Research Topic is to shed light on the non-linguistic causes of language diversity and, specifically, to explore the possibility that some aspects of the structure of languages may result from an adaptation to the natural and/or human-made environment. Traditionally, language diversity has been claimed to result from random, internally-motivated changes in language structure. Ongoing research suggests instead that different factors that are external to language can promote language change and ultimately account for aspects of language diversity. Accordingly, linguistic complexity has been found to correlate with features of the social environment, such as the absence of cross-cultural exchanges or the number of native speakers. Likewise, language structure could be influenced by the physical environment, as the effect of dry climates on tone seemingly shows. Finally, core properties of human languages, like duality of patterning, have been argued to result from iterative learning and cultural evolution, as research in village sign languages illustrates. On the whole this means that some aspects of languages could be an adaptation to ecological, social, or even technological niches. Eventually, certain gene alleles, provided that they bias language acquisition or processing, may affect language change through iterated cultural transmission, and ultimately, to language structure.

Author : Christian Bentz
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2018-06-11
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110557770

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Adaptive Languages by Christian Bentz Pdf

Languages carry information. To fulfil this purpose, they employ a multitude of coding strategies. This book explores a core property of linguistic coding – called lexical diversity. Parallel text corpora of overall more than 1800 texts written in more than 1200 languages are the basis for computational analyses. Different measures of lexical diversity are discussed and tested, and Shannon’s measure of uncertainty – the entropy – is chosen to assess differences in the distributions of words. To further explain this variation, a range of descriptive, explanatory, and grouping factors are considered in a series of statistical models. The first category includes writing systems, word-formation patterns, registers and styles. The second category includes population size, non-native speaker proportions and language status. Grouping factors further elicit whether the results extrapolate across – or are limited to – specific language families and areas. This account marries information-theoretic methods with a complex systems framework, illustrating how languages adapt to the varying needs of their users. It sheds light on the puzzling diversity of human languages in a quantitative, data driven and reproducible manner.

Author : Nick C. Ellis,Diane Larsen-Freeman
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2009-12-30
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781444334005

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Language as a Complex Adaptive System by Nick C. Ellis,Diane Larsen-Freeman Pdf

Explores a new approach to studying language as a complex adaptive system, illustrating its commonalities across many areas of language research Brings together a team of leading researchers in linguistics, psychology, and complex systems to discuss the groundbreaking significance of this perspective for their work Illustrates its application across a variety of subfields, including languages usage, language evolution, language structure, and first and second language acquisition "What a breath of fresh air! As interesting a collection of papers as you are likely to find on the evolution, learning, and use of language from the point of view of both cognitive underpinnings and communicative functions." Michael Tomasello, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Author : Stephen C. Levinson
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 418 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2003-03-20
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0521011965

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Space in Language and Cognition by Stephen C. Levinson Pdf

Table of contents

Author : Maria Garraffa,Maria Teresa Guasti,Theodoros Marinis,Gary Morgan
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2019-01-24
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9782889456895

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Language Acquisition in Diverse Linguistic, Social and Cognitive Circumstances by Maria Garraffa,Maria Teresa Guasti,Theodoros Marinis,Gary Morgan Pdf

The language experience of children developing in linguistically diverse environments is subject to considerable variation both in terms of quantity and quality of language exposure. It is an open question how to investigate language exposure patterns and more important which factors are relevant for successful language learning. For example, children acquiring a minority language, including a signed language, are exposed to less variety of input than children acquiring a more global language. This is because they are living in a smaller linguistic community and with fewer occasions to use the language in everyday life. Despite this reduced input, most native signers are successful language learners. In contrast native language competence is not always achieved in signing deaf children with hearing parents or those with cochlear implants learning a spoken language. A similar outcome but with very different reasons has also been reported for hearing children with language impairment. In these populations acquisition of morphosyntactic aspects is developing atypically ending with an uncomplete linguistic repertoire. The circumstances of exposure during language development tend to differ in significant ways with respect to a large number of factors, such as, (i) length, quality and quantity of input, (ii) social status and attitudes toward the language, (iii) cognitive abilities required for language learning, and (iv) age of first exposure. Having early exposure to a range of different speakers is important in the acquisition of any language and may affect language proficiency. However, negative societal attitudes or a cognitive based disadvantage may create an unfavourable learning environment that prevents language learning from surfacing typically. This situation inevitably generates a different type of exposure for the child and consequently different language competence. In this Research Topic we intend to encourage the debate on social, linguistic and cognitive factors at play for designing an effective environment for language acquisition aiming at integrating linguistic variables coming from theoretical studies on language with environmental variables, such as, measures of language input or cognitive abilities on functions ancillary to language development.

Author : Matthias Brenzinger
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 476 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 3110170507

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Language Diversity Endangered by Matthias Brenzinger Pdf

This book compiles unique contributions on the extent and kinds of language endangerment world-wide. Besides presenting the specific situations of language endangerment at the subcontinental level, the volume discusses major issues that bear universally on language endangerment. Aspects of the actual study of endangered languages within fieldwork frameworks are carefully examined.

Author : Catherine Fuchs,Stéphane Robert
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9789027223555

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Language Diversity and Cognitive Representations by Catherine Fuchs,Stéphane Robert Pdf

Significant new developments in brain activity research have revived the debate on the universality of language and its neural basis. Within this debate, the question of language diversity and its implications for cognition remains central and controversial. It is here investigated in an original multimodal approach, covering various aspects of cross-linguistic variation, differences between spoken, signed and drum languages, between normal speech and pathological speech, and also between language and music, as revealed in electric brain activity associated with language processing. The various contributions (linguistic, anthropological, psychological and neurophysical) on the nature and status of variation and invariants in language provides evidence for complex interactions between language-specific processes and general cognitive faculties. This overview of some recent trends in cognitive linguistics opens up a promising new research area in the humanities as well as in the cognitive sciences.

Author : Evangelia Adamou
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 221 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2021-04-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781108839518

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The Adaptive Bilingual Mind by Evangelia Adamou Pdf

Integrating findings from bilingualism research with the study of endangered languages, this book gives new perspectives for both fields.

Author : Victor Ginsburgh,Shiomo Weber
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2011-04-04
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781400838905

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How Many Languages Do We Need? by Victor Ginsburgh,Shiomo Weber Pdf

In the global economy, linguistic diversity influences economic and political development as well as public policies in positive and negative ways. It leads to financial costs, communication barriers, divisions in national unity, and, in some extreme cases, conflicts and war--but it also produces benefits related to group and individual identity. What are the specific advantages and disadvantages of linguistic diversity and how does it influence social and economic progress? This book examines linguistic diversity as a global social phenomenon and considers what degree of linguistic variety might result in the greatest economic good. Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber look at linguistic proximity between groups and between languages. They describe and use simple economic, linguistic, and statistical tools to measure diversity's impact on growth, development, trade, the quality of institutions, translation issues, voting patterns in multinational competitions, and the likelihood and intensity of civil conflicts. They address the choosing of core languages in a multilingual community, such as the European Union, and argue that although too many official languages might harm cohesiveness, efficiency, and communication, reducing their number brings about alienation and disenfranchisement of groups. Demonstrating that the value and drawbacks of linguistic diversity are universal, How Many Languages Do We Need? suggests ways for designing appropriate linguistic policies for today's multilingual world.

Author : Johanna Nichols
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1999-06
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0226580571

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Linguistic Diversity in Space and Time by Johanna Nichols Pdf

Some structural features of languages predict others, some remain unchanged in daughter languages, others have an areal consistency; in establishing typologically, historically and geographically stable features in the worlds languages, examples are included from Kayardild, Djingili, Dyirbal, Mangarayi, Maung, Ngiyambaa.

Author : Sandra McKay,Sau-ling Cynthia Wong
Publisher : Newbury House Publishers
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : UOM:39015013134492

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Language Diversity, Problem Or Resource? by Sandra McKay,Sau-ling Cynthia Wong Pdf

Author : Jan Wohlgemuth,Michael Cysouw
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 425 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110228540

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Rara & Rarissima by Jan Wohlgemuth,Michael Cysouw Pdf

The series is a platform for contributions of all kinds to this rapidly developing field. General problems are studied from the perspective of individual languages, language families, language groups, or language samples. Conclusions are the result of a deepened study of empirical data. Special emphasis is given to little-known languages, whose analysis may shed new light on long-standing problems in general linguistics.

Author : John Harold Leavitt
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Anthropological linguistics
ISBN : 0511991703

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Linguistic Relativities by John Harold Leavitt Pdf

"There are more than six thousand human languages, each one unique. For the last five hundred years, people have argued about how important language differences are. This book traces that history and shows how language differences have generally been treated either as of no importance or as all-important, depending on broader approaches taken to human life and knowledge. It was only in the twentieth century, in the work of Franz Boas and his students, that an attempt was made to engage seriously with the reality of language specificities. Since the 1950s, this work has been largely presented as yet another claim that language differences are all-important by cognitive scientists and philosophers who believe that such differences are of no importance. This book seeks to correct this misrepresentation and point to the new directions taken by the Boasians, directions now being recovered in the most recent work in psychology and linguistics"--