The emergence of quantifiers
-
Simon Pauw
Abstract
Human natural languages use quantifiers as ways to designate the number of objects of a set. They include numerals, such as ``three'', or circumscriptions, such as ``a few''. The latter are not only underdetermined but also context dependent. We provide a cultural-evolution explanation for the emergence of such quantifiers, focusing in particular on the role of environmental constraints on strategy choices. Through a series of situated interaction experiments, we show how a community of robotic agents can self-organize a quantification system. Different perceptions of the scene make underdetermined quantifiers useful and environments in which the distribution of objects exhibits some degree of predictability creates favorable conditions for context-dependent quantifiers.
Abstract
Human natural languages use quantifiers as ways to designate the number of objects of a set. They include numerals, such as ``three'', or circumscriptions, such as ``a few''. The latter are not only underdetermined but also context dependent. We provide a cultural-evolution explanation for the emergence of such quantifiers, focusing in particular on the role of environmental constraints on strategy choices. Through a series of situated interaction experiments, we show how a community of robotic agents can self-organize a quantification system. Different perceptions of the scene make underdetermined quantifiers useful and environments in which the distribution of objects exhibits some degree of predictability creates favorable conditions for context-dependent quantifiers.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Self-organization and selection in cultural language evolution 1
-
Part I. Emergence of perceptually grounded vocabularies
- The Grounded Naming Game 41
- Language strategies for color 61
- Emergent mirror systems for body language 87
- The co-evolution of basic spatial terms and categories 111
- Multi-dimensional meanings in lexicon formation 143
-
Part II. Emergence of grammatical systems
- The evolution of case systems for marking event structure 169
- Emergent functional grammar for space 207
- The emergence of internal agreement systems 233
- A language strategy for aspect 257
- The emergence of quantifiers 277
- Index 305
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Self-organization and selection in cultural language evolution 1
-
Part I. Emergence of perceptually grounded vocabularies
- The Grounded Naming Game 41
- Language strategies for color 61
- Emergent mirror systems for body language 87
- The co-evolution of basic spatial terms and categories 111
- Multi-dimensional meanings in lexicon formation 143
-
Part II. Emergence of grammatical systems
- The evolution of case systems for marking event structure 169
- Emergent functional grammar for space 207
- The emergence of internal agreement systems 233
- A language strategy for aspect 257
- The emergence of quantifiers 277
- Index 305
