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The arbitrariness of the sign: learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary

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The arbitrariness of the sign: learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary. / Monaghan, Padraic; Christiansen, Morten H.; Fitneva, Stanka A.
In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol. 140, No. 3, 08.2011, p. 325-347.

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

Harvard

Monaghan, P, Christiansen, MH & Fitneva, SA 2011, 'The arbitrariness of the sign: learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary', Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 140, no. 3, pp. 325-347. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022924

APA

Monaghan, P., Christiansen, M. H., & Fitneva, S. A. (2011). The arbitrariness of the sign: learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(3), 325-347. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022924

Vancouver

Monaghan P, Christiansen MH, Fitneva SA. The arbitrariness of the sign: learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2011 Aug;140(3):325-347. doi: 10.1037/a0022924

Author

Monaghan, Padraic ; Christiansen, Morten H. ; Fitneva, Stanka A. / The arbitrariness of the sign : learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary. In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 2011 ; Vol. 140, No. 3. pp. 325-347.

Bibtex

@article{d6ddfeed14c94889a4d8bde3963fed18,
title = "The arbitrariness of the sign: learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary",
abstract = "Recent research has demonstrated that systematic mappings between phonological word forms and their meanings can facilitate language learning (e.g., in the form of sound symbolism or cues to grammatical categories). Yet, paradoxically from a learning viewpoint, most words have an arbitrary form-meaning mapping. We hypothesized that this paradox may reflect a division of labor between 2 different language learning functions: arbitrariness facilitates learning specific word meanings and systematicity facilitates learning to group words into categories. In a series of computational investigations and artificial language learning studies, we varied the extent to which the language was arbitrary or systematic. For both the simulations and the behavioral studies, we found that the optimal structure of the vocabulary for learning incorporated this division of labor. Corpus analyses of English and French indicate that these predicted patterns are also found in natural languages.",
keywords = "language evolution, language acquisition, arbitrariness of the sign, connectionist modeling, artificial language learning, GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY ASSIGNMENTS, SUFFIXING PREFERENCE, DISTRIBUTIONAL CUES, ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE, WORD RECOGNITION, ACQUISITION, CATEGORIZATION, PHONOLOGY, SOUND, MORPHOLOGY",
author = "Padraic Monaghan and Christiansen, {Morten H.} and Fitneva, {Stanka A.}",
year = "2011",
month = aug,
doi = "10.1037/a0022924",
language = "English",
volume = "140",
pages = "325--347",
journal = "Journal of Experimental Psychology: General",
issn = "0096-3445",
publisher = "AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The arbitrariness of the sign

T2 - learning advantages from the structure of the vocabulary

AU - Monaghan, Padraic

AU - Christiansen, Morten H.

AU - Fitneva, Stanka A.

PY - 2011/8

Y1 - 2011/8

N2 - Recent research has demonstrated that systematic mappings between phonological word forms and their meanings can facilitate language learning (e.g., in the form of sound symbolism or cues to grammatical categories). Yet, paradoxically from a learning viewpoint, most words have an arbitrary form-meaning mapping. We hypothesized that this paradox may reflect a division of labor between 2 different language learning functions: arbitrariness facilitates learning specific word meanings and systematicity facilitates learning to group words into categories. In a series of computational investigations and artificial language learning studies, we varied the extent to which the language was arbitrary or systematic. For both the simulations and the behavioral studies, we found that the optimal structure of the vocabulary for learning incorporated this division of labor. Corpus analyses of English and French indicate that these predicted patterns are also found in natural languages.

AB - Recent research has demonstrated that systematic mappings between phonological word forms and their meanings can facilitate language learning (e.g., in the form of sound symbolism or cues to grammatical categories). Yet, paradoxically from a learning viewpoint, most words have an arbitrary form-meaning mapping. We hypothesized that this paradox may reflect a division of labor between 2 different language learning functions: arbitrariness facilitates learning specific word meanings and systematicity facilitates learning to group words into categories. In a series of computational investigations and artificial language learning studies, we varied the extent to which the language was arbitrary or systematic. For both the simulations and the behavioral studies, we found that the optimal structure of the vocabulary for learning incorporated this division of labor. Corpus analyses of English and French indicate that these predicted patterns are also found in natural languages.

KW - language evolution

KW - language acquisition

KW - arbitrariness of the sign

KW - connectionist modeling

KW - artificial language learning

KW - GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY ASSIGNMENTS

KW - SUFFIXING PREFERENCE

KW - DISTRIBUTIONAL CUES

KW - ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE

KW - WORD RECOGNITION

KW - ACQUISITION

KW - CATEGORIZATION

KW - PHONOLOGY

KW - SOUND

KW - MORPHOLOGY

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79961184977&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1037/a0022924

DO - 10.1037/a0022924

M3 - Journal article

VL - 140

SP - 325

EP - 347

JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

SN - 0096-3445

IS - 3

ER -