Linguistic attractors : the cognitive dynamics of language acquisition and change
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Linguistic attractors : the cognitive dynamics of language acquisition and change
（Human cognitive processing, v. 2）
J. Benjamins Pub., c1999
- : eur
- : us
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [329]-353) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The interdisciplinary linguistic attractor model portrays language processing as linked sequences of fractal sets, and examines the changing dynamics of such sets for individuals as well as the speech community they comprise. Its motivation stems from human anatomic constraints and several artificial neural network approaches. It uses general computation theory to: (1) demonstrate the capacity of Cantor-like fractal sets to perform as Turing Machines; (2) better distinguish between models that simply match outputs (emulation) and models that match both outputs and internal dynamics (simulation); and (3) relate language processing to essential computation steps executed in parallel. Measure and information theory highlight the key variables driving linguistic dynamics, while catastrophe and game theory help predict the possible topologies of language change.It introduces techniques to isolate and measure attractors, and to interpret their stability and relative content within a system. Important results include the capability to distinguish the sequence of related sound changes, and to make point-to-point comparisons of different texts using common metrics. Other techniques allow quantifiable ambiguity landscapes illustrating the forces that propel different languages in different directions.
Table of Contents
- 1. Preface
- 2. Introduction: Abstractions, Universals, Systems and Attractors
- 3. 1. Human Architecture: Physical Constraints ans Special Accomodations
- 4. 2. Possible Neutral Network Implemantations: General Network Properties and Requirements for Computation
- 5. 3. Representations
- 6. 4. Attractor Dynamics on Semantic Fields
- 7. 5. Towards an Attractor Grammar
- 8. 6. The Dynamics of Language Change: Beowulf, the Tatian, and German Biblical Texts
- 9. References
- 10. Index
by "Nielsen BookData"