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How arbitrary is language?

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How arbitrary is language? / Monaghan, Padraic; Shillcock, Richard C.; Christiansen, Morten H. et al.
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 369, No. 1651, 20130299, 19.09.2014.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Monaghan, P, Shillcock, RC, Christiansen, MH & Kirby, S 2014, 'How arbitrary is language?', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 369, no. 1651, 20130299. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0299

APA

Monaghan, P., Shillcock, R. C., Christiansen, M. H., & Kirby, S. (2014). How arbitrary is language? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369(1651), Article 20130299. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0299

Vancouver

Monaghan P, Shillcock RC, Christiansen MH, Kirby S. How arbitrary is language? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2014 Sept 19;369(1651):20130299. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0299

Author

Monaghan, Padraic ; Shillcock, Richard C. ; Christiansen, Morten H. et al. / How arbitrary is language?. In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2014 ; Vol. 369, No. 1651.

Bibtex

@article{d7205a094998463cacb4d42f6c202b0e,
title = "How arbitrary is language?",
abstract = "It is a long established convention that the relationship between sounds and meanings of words is essentially arbitrary-typically the sound of a word gives no hint of its meaning. However, there are numerous reported instances of systematic sound meaning mappings in language, and this systematicity has been claimed to be important for early language development. In a large-scale corpus analysis of English, we show that sound-meaning mappings are more systematic than would be expected by chance. Furthermore, this systematicity is more pronounced for words involved in the early stages of language acquisition and reduces in later vocabulary development. We propose that the vocabulary is structured to enable systematicity in early language learning to promote language acquisition, while also incorporating arbitrariness for later language in order to facilitate communicative expressivity and efficiency.",
keywords = "language acquisition, language evolution, vocabulary, arbitrariness of the sign, SOUND SYMBOLISM, CORRESPONDENCES, WORDS, SPACE, ACQUISITION, PERCEPTION, ICONICITY, MEANINGS, SHAPE, MAPS",
author = "Padraic Monaghan and Shillcock, {Richard C.} and Christiansen, {Morten H.} and Simon Kirby",
year = "2014",
month = sep,
day = "19",
doi = "10.1098/rstb.2013.0299",
language = "English",
volume = "369",
journal = "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences",
issn = "0962-8436",
publisher = "Royal Society",
number = "1651",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - How arbitrary is language?

AU - Monaghan, Padraic

AU - Shillcock, Richard C.

AU - Christiansen, Morten H.

AU - Kirby, Simon

PY - 2014/9/19

Y1 - 2014/9/19

N2 - It is a long established convention that the relationship between sounds and meanings of words is essentially arbitrary-typically the sound of a word gives no hint of its meaning. However, there are numerous reported instances of systematic sound meaning mappings in language, and this systematicity has been claimed to be important for early language development. In a large-scale corpus analysis of English, we show that sound-meaning mappings are more systematic than would be expected by chance. Furthermore, this systematicity is more pronounced for words involved in the early stages of language acquisition and reduces in later vocabulary development. We propose that the vocabulary is structured to enable systematicity in early language learning to promote language acquisition, while also incorporating arbitrariness for later language in order to facilitate communicative expressivity and efficiency.

AB - It is a long established convention that the relationship between sounds and meanings of words is essentially arbitrary-typically the sound of a word gives no hint of its meaning. However, there are numerous reported instances of systematic sound meaning mappings in language, and this systematicity has been claimed to be important for early language development. In a large-scale corpus analysis of English, we show that sound-meaning mappings are more systematic than would be expected by chance. Furthermore, this systematicity is more pronounced for words involved in the early stages of language acquisition and reduces in later vocabulary development. We propose that the vocabulary is structured to enable systematicity in early language learning to promote language acquisition, while also incorporating arbitrariness for later language in order to facilitate communicative expressivity and efficiency.

KW - language acquisition

KW - language evolution

KW - vocabulary

KW - arbitrariness of the sign

KW - SOUND SYMBOLISM

KW - CORRESPONDENCES

KW - WORDS

KW - SPACE

KW - ACQUISITION

KW - PERCEPTION

KW - ICONICITY

KW - MEANINGS

KW - SHAPE

KW - MAPS

U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2013.0299

DO - 10.1098/rstb.2013.0299

M3 - Journal article

VL - 369

JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8436

IS - 1651

M1 - 20130299

ER -