Carrie Theisen
2010
Systematicity and arbitrariness in novel communication systemsPDF
Interaction Studies 11(1):14-32, 2010
Arbitrariness and systematicity are two of languageas most fascinating properties. Although both are characterizations of the mappings between signals and meanings, their emergence and evolution in communication systems has generally been explored independently. We present an ...MORE ⇓
Arbitrariness and systematicity are two of languageas most fascinating properties. Although both are characterizations of the mappings between signals and meanings, their emergence and evolution in communication systems has generally been explored independently. We present an experiment in which both arbitrariness and systematicity are probed. Participants invent signs from scratch to refer to a set of items that share salient semantic features. Through interaction, the systematic re-use of arbitrary signal elements emerges.
2009
Systematicity and arbitrariness in novel communication systems
Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 2009
Human languages include vast numbers of learned, arbitrary signal-meaning mappings but also many complex signal-meaning mappings that are systematically related to each other (i.e. not arbitrary). Although arbitrariness and systematicity are clearly related, the development of ...MORE ⇓
Human languages include vast numbers of learned, arbitrary signal-meaning mappings but also many complex signal-meaning mappings that are systematically related to each other (i.e. not arbitrary). Although arbitrariness and systematicity are clearly related, the development of the two in communication systems has been explored independently. We present an experiment in which participants invent signs from scratch to refer to a set of real concepts that share semantic features. Through interaction, the systematic re-use of arbitrary elements emerges.