Language Evolution and Computation Bibliography

This article presents a dense database study of child language acquisition from a usage-based perspective and a new analysis of data from an earlier study on simulating language evolution. The new analysis is carried out to show how computer modeling studies can be designed to generate predictions (results) that can be compared quantitatively with empirical data obtained from the dense database studies. Although the comparison shows that the computer model in question is still far from realistic, the study illustrates how to carry out agent-based simulations of language evolution that allow quantitative verification of predictions with empirical data to validate theories on child language acquisition.

Children learn language from what they hear. In dispute is what mechanisms they bring to this task. Clearly some of these mechanisms have evolved to support the human speech capacity but this leaves a wide field of possibilities open. The question I will address in my paper is whether we need to postulate an innate $\underline{syntactic}$ module that has evolved to make the learning of language structure possible. I will suggest that more general human social and cognitive capacities may be all that is needed to support the learning of syntactic structure.