The evolution of case systems for marking event structure
-
Remi van Trijp
Abstract
Case has fascinated linguists for centuries without however revealing its most important secrets. This paper offers operational explanations for case through language game experiments in which autonomous agents describe real-world events to each other. The experiments demonstrate (a) why a language may develop a case system, (b) how a population can self-organize a case system, and (c) why and how an existing case system may take on new functions in a language.
Abstract
Case has fascinated linguists for centuries without however revealing its most important secrets. This paper offers operational explanations for case through language game experiments in which autonomous agents describe real-world events to each other. The experiments demonstrate (a) why a language may develop a case system, (b) how a population can self-organize a case system, and (c) why and how an existing case system may take on new functions in a language.
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
