Natural languages as complex adaptive systems

Autori

  • William Alfred Pickering Centro de Lógica, Epistemologia e História da Ciência (CLE-UNICAMP)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21165/el.v45i1.787

Parole chiave:

complex systems, linguistics, adaptation, sociolinguistic variation.

Abstract

Certain basic properties of complex systems are compared to those of communal languages. It is argued that languages are comprised of interacting units that constitute a functioning whole, with the properties of network structure, decentralized control, emergence, reciprocal causation, far-from-equilibrium state, and positive and negative feedback processes. The possibility that languages also have the property of adaptivity is also discussed. The key problem in defining language adaptivity is found to be the role played by individual linguistic variation in maintaining a language’s stability and capacity for change. It is argued in conclusion that considering natural languages as complex adaptive systems serves as a basis for hypotheses that can be modeled and tested empirically, and that the complex systems approach can bring a unity and coherence to the understanding of diverse linguistic phenomena.

 

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Biografia autore

William Alfred Pickering, Centro de Lógica, Epistemologia e História da Ciência (CLE-UNICAMP)

Doutorado em Lingüística pela UNICAMP (2010), na área de línguas indígenas. Professor de inglês na FATEC, Piracicaba, SP. Bolsista de pós-doutorado pela FAPESP no Centro de Lógica, Epistemologia e História da Ciência (CLE-UNICAMP) - 10/2013-07/2015.

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Pubblicato

2016-11-29

Come citare

Pickering, W. A. (2016). Natural languages as complex adaptive systems. Estudos Linguísticos (São Paulo. 1978), 45(1), 180–191. https://doi.org/10.21165/el.v45i1.787

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Gramática Funcional