Social media enhances languages differentiation: a mathematical description

R Soc Open Sci. 2017 May 17;4(5):170094. doi: 10.1098/rsos.170094. eCollection 2017 May.

Abstract

Understanding and predicting the evolution of competing languages is a topic of high interest in a world with more than 6000 languages competing in a highly connected environment. We consider a reasonable mathematical model describing a situation of competition between two languages and analyse the effect of the speakers' connectivity (i.e. social networks). Surprisingly, instead of homogenizing the system, a high degree of connectivity helps to introduce differentiation for the appropriate parameters.

Keywords: differentiation induced by globalization; language competition; networks; non-localized Turing structures.

Associated data

  • Dryad/10.5061/dryad.b2207