Viability of an elementary syntactic structure in a population playing naming games

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2012 Aug;86(2 Pt 2):026107. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.86.026107. Epub 2012 Aug 13.

Abstract

We explore how the social dynamics of communication and learning can bring about the rise of a syntactic communication in a population of speakers. Our study is developed starting from a version of the Naming Game model in which an elementary syntactic structure is introduced. This analysis shows how the transition from nonsyntactic to syntactic communication is socially favored in communities which need to exchange a large number of concepts.

MeSH terms

  • Biological Evolution
  • Communication
  • Game Theory
  • Humans
  • Language*
  • Learning*
  • Linguistics
  • Models, Biological
  • Models, Statistical
  • Mutation
  • Normal Distribution
  • Population Dynamics
  • Probability
  • Systems Biology
  • Time Factors