Emergent functional grammar for space
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Michael Spranger
Abstract
This chapter explores a semantics-oriented approach to the origins of syntactic structure. It reports on preliminary experiments whereby speakers introduce hierarchical constructions and grammatical markers to express which conceptualization strategy hearers are supposed to invoke. This grammatical information helps hearers to avoid semantic ambiguity or errors in interpretation. A simulation study is performed for spatial grammar using robotic agents that play language games about objects in their shared world. The chapter uses a reconstruction of a fragment of German spatial language to identify the niche of spatial grammar, and then reports on acquisition and formation experiments in which agents seeded with a `pidgin German' without grammar are made to interact until rudiments of hierarchical structure and grammatical marking emerge.
Abstract
This chapter explores a semantics-oriented approach to the origins of syntactic structure. It reports on preliminary experiments whereby speakers introduce hierarchical constructions and grammatical markers to express which conceptualization strategy hearers are supposed to invoke. This grammatical information helps hearers to avoid semantic ambiguity or errors in interpretation. A simulation study is performed for spatial grammar using robotic agents that play language games about objects in their shared world. The chapter uses a reconstruction of a fragment of German spatial language to identify the niche of spatial grammar, and then reports on acquisition and formation experiments in which agents seeded with a `pidgin German' without grammar are made to interact until rudiments of hierarchical structure and grammatical marking emerge.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Self-organization and selection in cultural language evolution 1
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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
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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
