Quantifying the evolutionary dynamics of language
During language evolution, rules emerge and exceptions decline. A quantitative study measures the rate at which a human language becomes more regular over time. Specifically, the regularization of English verbs over the last 1200 years was studied,...
becky ward
30d ago
@robinsall @Merz @cshperspectives @HGLeitch @WallaceUcsf @arjunrajlab @ianpaulcha @wbderry Interestingly, words (or at least verbs) become "regular" in English at a rate inverse to their frequency: nature.com/articles/natur… (one of the authors was a PhD student studying evolution of antibiotic resistance and found that the same math applied).
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