2016 |
Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio; Servedio, Vito; Salikoko, Mufwene Modeling The Emergence Of Creole Languages (Inproceeding) Roberts,; Cuskley,; McCrohon,; Barceló-Coblijn,; Fehér,; Verhoef, (Ed.): The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANGX11), 2016. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, servedio, tria) @inproceedings{evolang11_89, title = {Modeling The Emergence Of Creole Languages}, author = { Francesca Tria and Vittorio Loreto and Vito Servedio and S. Mufwene Salikoko}, editor = {S.G. Roberts and C. Cuskley and L. McCrohon and L. Barceló-Coblijn and O. Fehér and T. Verhoef}, url = {http://evolang.org/neworleans/papers/89.html}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-01-01}, booktitle = {The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANGX11)}, abstract = {Creole languages offer an invaluable opportunity to study the processes leading to the emergence and evolution of Language, thanks to the short - typically a few generations - and reasonably well defined time-scales involved in their emergence. Another well-known case of a very fast emergence of a Language, though referring to a much smaller population size and different ecological conditions, is that of the Nicaraguan Sign Language. What these two phenomena have in common is that in both cases what is emerging is a contact language, i.e., a language born out of the non-trivial interaction of two (or more) parent languages. This is a typical case of what is known in biology as horizontal transmission. In many well-documented cases, creoles emerged in large segregated sugarcane or rice plantations on which the slave labourers were the overwhelming majority. Lacking a common substrate language, slaves were naturally brought to shift to the economically and politically dominant European language (often referred to as the lexifier) to bootstrap an effective communication system among themselves. Here, we focus on the emergence of creole languages originated in the contacts of European colonists and slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries in exogenous plantation colonies of especially the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, where detailed census data are available. Those for several States of USA can be found at http://www.census.gov/history, while for Central America and the Caribbean can be found at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples/1790al11.htm. Without entering in the details of the creole formation at a fine-grained linguistic level, we aim at uncovering some of the general mechanisms that determine the emergence of contact languages, and that successfully apply to the case of creole formation.}, keywords = {kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, servedio, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Creole languages offer an invaluable opportunity to study the processes leading to the emergence and evolution of Language, thanks to the short - typically a few generations - and reasonably well defined time-scales involved in their emergence. Another well-known case of a very fast emergence of a Language, though referring to a much smaller population size and different ecological conditions, is that of the Nicaraguan Sign Language. What these two phenomena have in common is that in both cases what is emerging is a contact language, i.e., a language born out of the non-trivial interaction of two (or more) parent languages. This is a typical case of what is known in biology as horizontal transmission. In many well-documented cases, creoles emerged in large segregated sugarcane or rice plantations on which the slave labourers were the overwhelming majority. Lacking a common substrate language, slaves were naturally brought to shift to the economically and politically dominant European language (often referred to as the lexifier) to bootstrap an effective communication system among themselves. Here, we focus on the emergence of creole languages originated in the contacts of European colonists and slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries in exogenous plantation colonies of especially the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, where detailed census data are available. Those for several States of USA can be found at http://www.census.gov/history, while for Central America and the Caribbean can be found at http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples/1790al11.htm. Without entering in the details of the creole formation at a fine-grained linguistic level, we aim at uncovering some of the general mechanisms that determine the emergence of contact languages, and that successfully apply to the case of creole formation. |
Cuskley, Christine; Loreto, Vittorio The Emergence Of Rules And Exceptions In A Population Of Interacting Agents (Inproceeding) Roberts,; Cuskley,; McCrohon,; Barceló-Coblijn,; Fehér,; Verhoef, (Ed.): The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANGX11), 2016. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: cuskley, kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, modeling, rules) @inproceedings{evolang11_119, title = {The Emergence Of Rules And Exceptions In A Population Of Interacting Agents}, author = { Christine Cuskley and Vittorio Loreto}, editor = {S.G. Roberts and C. Cuskley and L. McCrohon and L. Barceló-Coblijn and O. Fehér and T. Verhoef}, url = {http://evolang.org/neworleans/papers/119.html}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-01-01}, booktitle = {The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANGX11)}, abstract = {Rules are an efficient feature of natural languages which allow speakers to use a finite set of instructions to generate a virtually infinite set of utterances. Yet, for many regular rules, there are irregular exceptions. There has been lively debate in cognitive science about how individual learners acquire rules and exceptions; for example, how they learn the past tense of preach is preached, but for teach it is taught. In this paper, we take a different perspective, examining the dynamics of regularity and irregularity across a population of interacting agents to investigate how inflectional rules are applied to verbs. We show that in the absence of biases towards either regularity or irregularity, the outcome is determined by the initial condition, irrespective of the frequency of usage of the given lemma. On the other hand, in presence of biases, rule systems exhibit frequency dependent patterns in regularity reminiscent of patterns in natural language corpora. We examine the case where individuals are biased towards linguistic regularity in two ways: either as child learners, or through a memory constraint wherein irregular forms can only be remembered by an individual agent for a finite time period. We provide theoretical arguments for the prediction of a critical frequency below which irregularity cannot persist in terms of the duration of the finite time period which constrains agent memory.}, keywords = {cuskley, kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, modeling, rules}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } Rules are an efficient feature of natural languages which allow speakers to use a finite set of instructions to generate a virtually infinite set of utterances. Yet, for many regular rules, there are irregular exceptions. There has been lively debate in cognitive science about how individual learners acquire rules and exceptions; for example, how they learn the past tense of preach is preached, but for teach it is taught. In this paper, we take a different perspective, examining the dynamics of regularity and irregularity across a population of interacting agents to investigate how inflectional rules are applied to verbs. We show that in the absence of biases towards either regularity or irregularity, the outcome is determined by the initial condition, irrespective of the frequency of usage of the given lemma. On the other hand, in presence of biases, rule systems exhibit frequency dependent patterns in regularity reminiscent of patterns in natural language corpora. We examine the case where individuals are biased towards linguistic regularity in two ways: either as child learners, or through a memory constraint wherein irregular forms can only be remembered by an individual agent for a finite time period. We provide theoretical arguments for the prediction of a critical frequency below which irregularity cannot persist in terms of the duration of the finite time period which constrains agent memory. |
2015 |
Tria, Francesca; Servedio, Vito; Mufwene, Salikoko; Loreto, Vittorio Modeling the Emergence of Contact Languages (Journal Article) PLoS ONE, 10 (4), pp. e0120771, 2015. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: creoles, kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, servedio, tria) @article{10.1371/journal.pone.0120771, title = {Modeling the Emergence of Contact Languages}, author = {Francesca Tria and Vito D.P. Servedio and Salikoko Mufwene and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0120771}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0120771}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-01}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {10}, number = {4}, pages = {e0120771}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, abstract = { Contact languages are born out of the non-trivial interaction of two (or more) parent languages. Nowadays, the enhanced possibility of mobility and communication allows for a strong mixing of languages and cultures, thus raising the issue of whether there are any pure languages or cultures that are unaffected by contact with others. As with bacteria or viruses in biological evolution, the evolution of languages is marked by horizontal transmission; but to date no reliable quantitative tools to investigate these phenomena have been available. An interesting and well documented example of contact language is the emergence of creole languages, which originated in the contacts of European colonists and slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries in exogenous plantation colonies of especially the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Here, we focus on the emergence of creole languages to demonstrate a dynamical process that mimics the process of creole formation in American and Caribbean plantation ecologies. Inspired by the Naming Game (NG), our modeling scheme incorporates demographic information about the colonial population in the framework of a non-trivial interaction network including three populations: Europeans, Mulattos/Creoles, and Bozal slaves. We show how this sole information makes it possible to discriminate territories that produced modern creoles from those that did not, with a surprising accuracy. The generality of our approach provides valuable insights for further studies on the emergence of languages in contact ecologies as well as to test specific hypotheses about the peopling and the population structures of the relevant territories. We submit that these tools could be relevant to addressing problems related to contact phenomena in many cultural domains: e.g., emergence of dialects, language competition and hybridization, globalization phenomena. },keywords = {creoles, kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, servedio, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } <p>Contact languages are born out of the non-trivial interaction of two (or more) parent languages. Nowadays, the enhanced possibility of mobility and communication allows for a strong mixing of languages and cultures, thus raising the issue of whether there are any pure languages or cultures that are unaffected by contact with others. As with bacteria or viruses in biological evolution, the evolution of languages is marked by horizontal transmission; but to date no reliable quantitative tools to investigate these phenomena have been available. An interesting and well documented example of contact language is the emergence of creole languages, which originated in the contacts of European colonists and slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries in exogenous plantation colonies of especially the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Here, we focus on the emergence of creole languages to demonstrate a dynamical process that mimics the process of creole formation in American and Caribbean plantation ecologies. Inspired by the Naming Game (NG), our modeling scheme incorporates demographic information about the colonial population in the framework of a non-trivial interaction network including three populations: Europeans, Mulattos/Creoles, and Bozal slaves. We show how this sole information makes it possible to discriminate territories that produced modern creoles from those that did not, with a surprising accuracy. The generality of our approach provides valuable insights for further studies on the emergence of languages in contact ecologies as well as to test specific hypotheses about the peopling and the population structures of the relevant territories. We submit that these tools could be relevant to addressing problems related to contact phenomena in many cultural domains: e.g., emergence of dialects, language competition and hybridization, globalization phenomena.</p> |
Cuskley, Christine; Colaiori, Francesca; Castellano, Claudio; Loreto, Vittorio; Pugliese, Martina; Tria, Francesca The adoption of linguistic rules in native and non-native speakers: Evidence from a Wug task (Journal Article) Journal of Memory and Language, 84 , pp. 205 - 223, 2015, ISSN: 0749-596X. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: castellano, colaiori, cuskley, experiment, kreyon, language_dynamics, loreto, pugliese, rules, Sociolinguistics, tria) @article{Cuskley2015205, title = {The adoption of linguistic rules in native and non-native speakers: Evidence from a Wug task}, author = {Christine Cuskley and Francesca Colaiori and Claudio Castellano and Vittorio Loreto and Martina Pugliese and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X15000790}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2015.06.005}, issn = {0749-596X}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Memory and Language}, volume = {84}, pages = {205 - 223}, abstract = {Several recent theories have suggested that an increase in the number of non-native speakers in a language can lead to changes in morphological rules. We examine this experimentally by contrasting the performance of native and non-native English speakers in a simple Wug-task, showing that non-native speakers are significantly more likely to provide non -ed (i.e., irregular) past-tense forms for novel verbs than native speakers. Both groups are sensitive to sound similarities between new words and existing words (i.e., are more likely to provide irregular forms for novel words which sound similar to existing irregulars). Among both natives and non-natives, irregularizations are non-random; that is, rather than presenting as truly irregular inflectional strategies, they follow identifiable sub-rules present in the highly frequent set of irregular English verbs. Our results shed new light on how native and non-native learners can affect language structure.}, keywords = {castellano, colaiori, cuskley, experiment, kreyon, language_dynamics, loreto, pugliese, rules, Sociolinguistics, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Several recent theories have suggested that an increase in the number of non-native speakers in a language can lead to changes in morphological rules. We examine this experimentally by contrasting the performance of native and non-native English speakers in a simple Wug-task, showing that non-native speakers are significantly more likely to provide non -ed (i.e., irregular) past-tense forms for novel verbs than native speakers. Both groups are sensitive to sound similarities between new words and existing words (i.e., are more likely to provide irregular forms for novel words which sound similar to existing irregulars). Among both natives and non-natives, irregularizations are non-random; that is, rather than presenting as truly irregular inflectional strategies, they follow identifiable sub-rules present in the highly frequent set of irregular English verbs. Our results shed new light on how native and non-native learners can affect language structure. |
Colaiori, Francesca; Castellano, Claudio; Cuskley, Christine; Loreto, Vittorio; Pugliese, Martina; Tria, Francesca General three-state model with biased population replacement: Analytical solution and application to language dynamics (Journal Article) Phys. Rev. E, 91 , pp. 012808, 2015. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: castellano, colaiori, cuskley, kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, modeling, naming_game, pugliese, tria) @article{PhysRevE.91.012808b, title = {General three-state model with biased population replacement: Analytical solution and application to language dynamics}, author = { Francesca Colaiori and Claudio Castellano and Christine F. Cuskley and Vittorio Loreto and Martina Pugliese and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.012808}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevE.91.012808}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-01}, journal = {Phys. Rev. E}, volume = {91}, pages = {012808}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, abstract = {Empirical evidence shows that the rate of irregular usage of English verbs exhibits discontinuity as a function of their frequency: the most frequent verbs tend to be totally irregular. We aim to qualitatively understand the origin of this feature by studying simple agent-based models of language dynamics, where each agent adopts an inflectional state for a verb and may change it upon interaction with other agents. At the same time, agents are replaced at some rate by new agents adopting the regular form. In models with only two inflectional states (regular and irregular), we observe that either all verbs regularise irrespective of their frequency, or a continuous transition occurs between a low-frequency state, where the lemma becomes fully regular, and a high-frequency one, where both forms coexist. Introducing a third (mixed) state, wherein agents may use either form, we find that a third, qualitatively different behaviour may emerge, namely, a discontinuous transition in frequency. We introduce and solve analytically a very general class of three-state models that allows us to fully understand these behaviours in a unified framework. Realistic sets of interaction rules, including the well-known naming game (NG) model, result in a discontinuous transition, in agreement with recent empirical findings. We also point out that the distinction between speaker and hearer in the interaction has no effect on the collective behaviour. The results for the general three-state model, although discussed in terms of language dynamics, are widely applicable.}, keywords = {castellano, colaiori, cuskley, kreyon, language_dynamics, language_games, loreto, modeling, naming_game, pugliese, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Empirical evidence shows that the rate of irregular usage of English verbs exhibits discontinuity as a function of their frequency: the most frequent verbs tend to be totally irregular. We aim to qualitatively understand the origin of this feature by studying simple agent-based models of language dynamics, where each agent adopts an inflectional state for a verb and may change it upon interaction with other agents. At the same time, agents are replaced at some rate by new agents adopting the regular form. In models with only two inflectional states (regular and irregular), we observe that either all verbs regularise irrespective of their frequency, or a continuous transition occurs between a low-frequency state, where the lemma becomes fully regular, and a high-frequency one, where both forms coexist. Introducing a third (mixed) state, wherein agents may use either form, we find that a third, qualitatively different behaviour may emerge, namely, a discontinuous transition in frequency. We introduce and solve analytically a very general class of three-state models that allows us to fully understand these behaviours in a unified framework. Realistic sets of interaction rules, including the well-known naming game (NG) model, result in a discontinuous transition, in agreement with recent empirical findings. We also point out that the distinction between speaker and hearer in the interaction has no effect on the collective behaviour. The results for the general three-state model, although discussed in terms of language dynamics, are widely applicable. |
2014 |
Cuskley, Christine; Pugliese, Martina; Castellano, Claudio; Colaiori, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Internal and External Dynamics in Language: Evidence from Verb Regularity in a Historical Corpus of English (Journal Article) PLoS ONE, 9 , 2014. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: cuskley, language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{, title = {Internal and External Dynamics in Language: Evidence from Verb Regularity in a Historical Corpus of English}, author = {Christine F. Cuskley and Martina Pugliese and Claudio Castellano and Francesca Colaiori and Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0102882}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {9}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, abstract = {Human languages are rule governed, but almost invariably these rules have exceptions in the form of irregularities. Since rules in language are efficient and productive, the persistence of irregularity is an anomaly. How does irregularity linger in the face of internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) pressures to conform to a rule? Here we address this problem by taking a detailed look at simple past tense verbs in the Corpus of Historical American English. The data show that the language is open, with many new verbs entering. At the same time, existing verbs might tend to regularize or irregularize as a consequence of internal dynamics, but overall, the amount of irregularity sustained by the language stays roughly constant over time. Despite continuous vocabulary growth, and presumably, an attendant increase in expressive power, there is no corresponding growth in irregularity. We analyze the set of irregulars, showing they may adhere to a set of minority rules, allowing for increased stability of irregularity over time. These findings contribute to the debate on how language systems become rule governed, and how and why they sustain exceptions to rules, providing insight into the interplay between the emergence and maintenance of rules and exceptions in language. © 2014 Cuskley et al.}, keywords = {cuskley, language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Human languages are rule governed, but almost invariably these rules have exceptions in the form of irregularities. Since rules in language are efficient and productive, the persistence of irregularity is an anomaly. How does irregularity linger in the face of internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) pressures to conform to a rule? Here we address this problem by taking a detailed look at simple past tense verbs in the Corpus of Historical American English. The data show that the language is open, with many new verbs entering. At the same time, existing verbs might tend to regularize or irregularize as a consequence of internal dynamics, but overall, the amount of irregularity sustained by the language stays roughly constant over time. Despite continuous vocabulary growth, and presumably, an attendant increase in expressive power, there is no corresponding growth in irregularity. We analyze the set of irregulars, showing they may adhere to a set of minority rules, allowing for increased stability of irregularity over time. These findings contribute to the debate on how language systems become rule governed, and how and why they sustain exceptions to rules, providing insight into the interplay between the emergence and maintenance of rules and exceptions in language. © 2014 Cuskley et al. |
Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Language games: Comment on "Modelling language evolution: Examples and predictions" by Tao Gong, Lan Shuai, Menghan Zhang (Journal Article) Physics of Life Reviews, 11 (2), pp. 311 - 312, 2014, ISSN: 1571-0645. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{Loreto_2014_physics_life, title = {Language games: Comment on "Modelling language evolution: Examples and predictions" by Tao Gong, Lan Shuai, Menghan Zhang}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064514000074}, issn = {1571-0645}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {Physics of Life Reviews}, volume = {11}, number = {2}, pages = {311 - 312}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Pucci, Lorenzo; Gravino, Pietro; Servedio, Vito DP Modeling the emergence of a new language: Naming Game with hybridization (Incollection) Self-Organizing Systems, pp. 78–89, Springer, 2014. (BibTeX | Tags: emergence, gravino, language, language_dynamics, naming_game) @incollection{pucci2014modeling, title = {Modeling the emergence of a new language: Naming Game with hybridization}, author = {Pucci, Lorenzo and Gravino, Pietro and Servedio, Vito DP}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, booktitle = {Self-Organizing Systems}, pages = {78--89}, publisher = {Springer}, keywords = {emergence, gravino, language, language_dynamics, naming_game}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } |
Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Language Games. Comment on "Modeling language evolution: examples and predictions" by Tao Gong (Journal Article) PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS, 11 , pp. 311–312, 2014. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Language Games. Comment on "Modeling language evolution: examples and predictions" by Tao Gong}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064514000074}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS}, volume = {11}, pages = {311--312}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
2013 |
Maity, Suman Kalyan; Mukherjee, Animesh; Tria, Francesca; Loreto, Vittorio Emergence of fast agreement in an overhearing population: The case of the naming game (Journal Article) EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 101 , 2013. (Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Emergence of fast agreement in an overhearing population: The case of the naming game}, author = {Suman Kalyan Maity and Animesh Mukherjee and Francesca Tria and Vittorio Loreto}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-01}, journal = {EUROPHYSICS LETTERS}, volume = {101}, abstract = {The naming game (NG) describes the agreement dynamics of a population of N agents interacting locally in pairs leading to the emergence of a shared vocabulary. This model has its relevance in the novel fields of semiotic dynamics and specifically to opinion formation and language evolution. The application of this model ranges from wireless sensor networks as spreading algorithms, leader election algorithms to user-based social tagging systems. In this paper, we introduce the concept of overhearing (i.e., at every time step of the game, a random set of N-delta individuals are chosen from the population who overhear the transmitted word from the speaker and accordingly reshape their inventories). When delta = 0 one recovers the behavior of the original NG. As one increases delta, the population of agents reaches a faster agreement with a significantly low-memory requirement. The convergence time to reach global consensus scales as log N as delta approaches 1. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2013}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The naming game (NG) describes the agreement dynamics of a population of N agents interacting locally in pairs leading to the emergence of a shared vocabulary. This model has its relevance in the novel fields of semiotic dynamics and specifically to opinion formation and language evolution. The application of this model ranges from wireless sensor networks as spreading algorithms, leader election algorithms to user-based social tagging systems. In this paper, we introduce the concept of overhearing (i.e., at every time step of the game, a random set of N-delta individuals are chosen from the population who overhear the transmitted word from the speaker and accordingly reshape their inventories). When delta = 0 one recovers the behavior of the original NG. As one increases delta, the population of agents reaches a faster agreement with a significantly low-memory requirement. The convergence time to reach global consensus scales as log N as delta approaches 1. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2013 |
Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Consensus in language dynamics: naming, categorizing and blending (Incollection) Shi, Feng; (Eds.), Gang Peng (Ed.): Festschrift in honor of Prof. William S-Y. Wang's 80th birthday, 2013. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @incollection{b, title = {Consensus in language dynamics: naming, categorizing and blending}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, editor = {Feng Shi and Gang Peng (Eds.)}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-01}, booktitle = {Festschrift in honor of Prof. William S-Y. Wang's 80th birthday}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } |
2012 |
Gravino, Pietro; Servedio, Vito; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Complex structures and semantics in free word association (Journal Article) ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM, 15 , pp. 1250054–1250075, 2012. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: complex_networks, gravino, language_dynamics, loreto, servedio) @article{b, title = {Complex structures and semantics in free word association}, author = {Pietro Gravino and Vito D.P. Servedio and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.worldscinet.com/acs/15/1503n04/S0219525912500543.html, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84861899272&partnerID=65&md5=4d6ecfe66508c0a3cf8bba8dae67c997 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2012/S0219525912500543.pdf}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM}, volume = {15}, pages = {1250054--1250075}, publisher = {WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD}, abstract = {We investigate the directed and weighted complex network of free word associations in which players write a word in response to another word given as input. We analyze in details two large datasets resulting from two very different experiments: On the one hand the massive multiplayer web-based Word Association Game known as Human Brain Cloud, and on the other hand the South Florida Free Association Norms experiment. In both cases, the networks of associations exhibit quite robust properties like the small world property, a slight assortativity and a strong asymmetry between in-degree and out-degree distributions. A particularly interesting result concerns the existence of a characteristic scale for the word association process, arguably related to specific conceptual contexts for each word. After mapping, the Human Brain Cloud network onto the WordNet semantics network, we point out the basic cognitive mechanisms underlying word associations when they are represented as paths in an underlying semantic network. We derive in particular an expression describing the growth of the HBC graph and we highlight the existence of a characteristic scale for the word association process.}, keywords = {complex_networks, gravino, language_dynamics, loreto, servedio}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } We investigate the directed and weighted complex network of free word associations in which players write a word in response to another word given as input. We analyze in details two large datasets resulting from two very different experiments: On the one hand the massive multiplayer web-based Word Association Game known as Human Brain Cloud, and on the other hand the South Florida Free Association Norms experiment. In both cases, the networks of associations exhibit quite robust properties like the small world property, a slight assortativity and a strong asymmetry between in-degree and out-degree distributions. A particularly interesting result concerns the existence of a characteristic scale for the word association process, arguably related to specific conceptual contexts for each word. After mapping, the Human Brain Cloud network onto the WordNet semantics network, we point out the basic cognitive mechanisms underlying word associations when they are represented as paths in an underlying semantic network. We derive in particular an expression describing the growth of the HBC graph and we highlight the existence of a characteristic scale for the word association process. |
Gong, Tao; Baronchelli, Andrea; Puglisi, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio Exploring the roles of complex networks in linguistic categorization (Journal Article) ARTIFICIAL LIFE, 18 (1) , pp. 107–121, 2012. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Exploring the roles of complex networks in linguistic categorization}, author = {Tao Gong and Andrea Baronchelli and Andrea Puglisi and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/artl_a_00051, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84455212316&partnerID=65&md5=758e5307761080b1252443baf9d08abf, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000298413600005&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {ARTIFICIAL LIFE}, volume = {18 (1)}, pages = {107--121}, publisher = {MIT PRESS, 55 HAYWARD STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02142 USA}, abstract = {This article adopts the category game model, which simulates the origins and evolution of linguistic categories in a group of artificial agents, to evaluate the effect of social structure on linguistic categorization. Based on the simulation results in a number of typical networks, we examine the isolating and collective effects of some structural features, including average degree, shortcuts, and level of centrality, on the categorization process. This study extends the previous simulations mainly on lexical evolution, and illustrates a general framework to systematically explore the effect of social structure on language evolution.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This article adopts the category game model, which simulates the origins and evolution of linguistic categories in a group of artificial agents, to evaluate the effect of social structure on linguistic categorization. Based on the simulation results in a number of typical networks, we examine the isolating and collective effects of some structural features, including average degree, shortcuts, and level of centrality, on the categorization process. This study extends the previous simulations mainly on lexical evolution, and illustrates a general framework to systematically explore the effect of social structure on language evolution. |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Language Dynamics (Journal Article) ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM, 15 , pp. 1203002–12030011, 2012. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Language Dynamics}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.worldscinet.com/acs/15/1503n04/S0219525912030026.html http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2005/Baronchelli_EurJourPhys_2005.pdf}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM}, volume = {15}, pages = {1203002--12030011}, publisher = {WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD}, abstract = {Thirty authors of different disciplines, ranging from cognitive science and linguistics to mathematics and physics, address the topic of language origin and evolution. Language dynamics is investigated through an interdisciplinary effort, involving field and synthetic experiments, modelling and comparison of the theoretical predictions with empirical data. The result consists in new insights that significantly contribute to the ongoing debate on the origin and the evolution of language. In this Topical Issue the state of the art of this novel and fertile approach is reported by major experts of the field.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Thirty authors of different disciplines, ranging from cognitive science and linguistics to mathematics and physics, address the topic of language origin and evolution. Language dynamics is investigated through an interdisciplinary effort, involving field and synthetic experiments, modelling and comparison of the theoretical predictions with empirical data. The result consists in new insights that significantly contribute to the ongoing debate on the origin and the evolution of language. In this Topical Issue the state of the art of this novel and fertile approach is reported by major experts of the field. |
Tria, Francesca; Galantucci, Bruno; Loreto, Vittorio Naming a structured world: a cultural route to duality of patterning (Journal Article) PLOS ONE, pp. e37744-1–e37744-8, 2012. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Naming a structured world: a cultural route to duality of patterning}, author = {Francesca Tria and Bruno Galantucci and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037744, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84862532680&partnerID=65&md5=596aaa8cb591f6d2d7e2a31bcdf3213e, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000305652700006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, pages = {e37744-1--e37744-8}, abstract = {The lexicons of human languages organize their units at two distinct levels. At a first combinatorial level, meaningless forms (typically referred to as phonemes) are combined into meaningful units (typically referred to as morphemes). Thanks to this, many morphemes can be obtained by relatively simple combinations of a small number of phonemes. At a second compositional level of the lexicon, morphemes are composed into larger lexical units, the meaning of which is related to the individual meanings of the composing morphemes. This duality of patterning is not a necessity for lexicons and the question remains wide open regarding how a population of individuals is able to bootstrap such a structure and the evolutionary advantages of its emergence. Here we address this question in the framework of a multi-agents model, where a population of individuals plays simple naming games in a conceptual environment modeled as a graph. We demonstrate that errors in communication as well as a blending repair strategy, which crucially exploits a shared conceptual representation of the environment, are sufficient conditions for the emergence of duality of patterning, that can thus be explained in a pure cultural way. Compositional lexicons turn out to be faster to lead to successful communication than purely combinatorial lexicons, suggesting that meaning played a crucial role in the evolution of language.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The lexicons of human languages organize their units at two distinct levels. At a first combinatorial level, meaningless forms (typically referred to as phonemes) are combined into meaningful units (typically referred to as morphemes). Thanks to this, many morphemes can be obtained by relatively simple combinations of a small number of phonemes. At a second compositional level of the lexicon, morphemes are composed into larger lexical units, the meaning of which is related to the individual meanings of the composing morphemes. This duality of patterning is not a necessity for lexicons and the question remains wide open regarding how a population of individuals is able to bootstrap such a structure and the evolutionary advantages of its emergence. Here we address this question in the framework of a multi-agents model, where a population of individuals plays simple naming games in a conceptual environment modeled as a graph. We demonstrate that errors in communication as well as a blending repair strategy, which crucially exploits a shared conceptual representation of the environment, are sufficient conditions for the emergence of duality of patterning, that can thus be explained in a pure cultural way. Compositional lexicons turn out to be faster to lead to successful communication than purely combinatorial lexicons, suggesting that meaning played a crucial role in the evolution of language. |
Loreto, Vittorio; Mukherjee, Animesh; Tria, Francesca On the origin of the hierarchy of color names (Journal Article) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS), 2012. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {On the origin of the hierarchy of color names}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Animesh Mukherjee and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/04/09/1113347109.abstract, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84860819374&partnerID=65&md5=d7b06adcaee23e02cd4e3f3eeb6be15c, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000303602100019&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2012/PNAS-2012-Loreto-1113347109.pdf}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS)}, abstract = {One of the fundamental problems in cognitive science is how humans categorize the visible color spectrum. The empirical evidence of the existence of universal or recurrent patterns in color naming across cultures is paralleled by the observation that color names begin to be used by individual cultures in a relatively fixed order. The origin of this hierarchy is largely unexplained. Here we resort to multiagent simulations, where a population of individuals, subject to a simple perceptual constraint shared by all humans, namely the human Just Noticeable Difference, categorizes and names colors through a purely cultural negotiation in the form of language games. We found that the time needed for a population to reach consensus on a color name depends on the region of the visible color spectrum. If color spectrum regions are ranked according to this criterion, a hierarchy with [red, (magenta)-red], [violet], [green/yellow], [blue], [orange], and [cyan], appearing in this order, is recovered, featuring an excellent quantitative agreement with the empirical observations of the WCS. Our results demonstrate a clear possible route to the emergence of hierarchical color categories, confirming that the theoretical modeling in this area has now attained the required maturity to make significant contributions to the ongoing debates concerning language universals.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } One of the fundamental problems in cognitive science is how humans categorize the visible color spectrum. The empirical evidence of the existence of universal or recurrent patterns in color naming across cultures is paralleled by the observation that color names begin to be used by individual cultures in a relatively fixed order. The origin of this hierarchy is largely unexplained. Here we resort to multiagent simulations, where a population of individuals, subject to a simple perceptual constraint shared by all humans, namely the human Just Noticeable Difference, categorizes and names colors through a purely cultural negotiation in the form of language games. We found that the time needed for a population to reach consensus on a color name depends on the region of the visible color spectrum. If color spectrum regions are ranked according to this criterion, a hierarchy with [red, (magenta)-red], [violet], [green/yellow], [blue], [orange], and [cyan], appearing in this order, is recovered, featuring an excellent quantitative agreement with the empirical observations of the WCS. Our results demonstrate a clear possible route to the emergence of hierarchical color categories, confirming that the theoretical modeling in this area has now attained the required maturity to make significant contributions to the ongoing debates concerning language universals. |
Mukherjee, Animesh; Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Why are basic color names "basic"? (Journal Article) ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM, 15 , pp. 1150016–1150028, 2012. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Why are basic color names "basic"?}, author = {Animesh Mukherjee and Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.worldscinet.com/acs/15/1503n04/S0219525911003426.html, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84861852212&partnerID=65&md5=5dc58383af9b9dc951b3821f9790de68, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000304607400003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-01-01}, journal = {ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM}, volume = {15}, pages = {1150016--1150028}, publisher = {WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD}, abstract = {It is widely known that color names across the world's languages tend to be organized into a neat hierarchy with a small set of "basic names" featuring in a comparatively fixed order across linguistic societies. However, to date, the basic names have only been defined through a set of linguistic principles. There is no statistical definition that quantitatively separates the basic names from the rest of the color words across languages. Here we present a rigorous statistical analysis of the World Color Survey database hosting color word information from 110 non-industrialized languages. The central result is that those names for which a population of individuals show a larger overall agreement across languages turn out to be the basic ones exactly reproducing the color name hierarchy and, thereby, providing, for the first time, an empirical definition of the basic color names.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } It is widely known that color names across the world's languages tend to be organized into a neat hierarchy with a small set of "basic names" featuring in a comparatively fixed order across linguistic societies. However, to date, the basic names have only been defined through a set of linguistic principles. There is no statistical definition that quantitatively separates the basic names from the rest of the color words across languages. Here we present a rigorous statistical analysis of the World Color Survey database hosting color word information from 110 non-industrialized languages. The central result is that those names for which a population of individuals show a larger overall agreement across languages turn out to be the basic ones exactly reproducing the color name hierarchy and, thereby, providing, for the first time, an empirical definition of the basic color names. |
2011 |
Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca Linguistica in Silico (Journal Article) SISTEMI INTELLIGENTI, 2 , pp. 319–328, 2011. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Linguistica in Silico}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {SISTEMI INTELLIGENTI}, volume = {2}, pages = {319--328}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Tria, Francesca; Mukherjee, Animesh; Baronchelli, Andrea; Puglisi, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio A fast no-rejection algorithm for the category game (Journal Article) JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE, 2 , pp. 316–323, 2011. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {A fast no-rejection algorithm for the category game}, author = {Francesca Tria and Animesh Mukherjee and Andrea Baronchelli and Andrea Puglisi and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877750311000883, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-82455187963&partnerID=65&md5=2e81b85740b8a15a5b048389e9dbe573}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE}, volume = {2}, pages = {316--323}, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {The Category Game is a multi-agent model that accounts for the emergence of shared categorization patterns in a population of interacting individuals. In the framework of the model, linguistic categories appear as long lived consensus states that are constantly reshaped and re-negotiated by the communicating individuals. It is therefore crucial to investigate the long time behavior to gain a clear understanding of the dynamics. However, it turns out that the evolution of the emerging category system is so slow, already for small populations, that such an analysis has remained so far impossible. Here, we introduce a fast no-rejection algorithm for the Category Game that disentangles the physical simulation time from the CPU time, thus opening the way for thorough analysis of the model. We verify that the new algorithm is equivalent to the old one in terms of the emerging phenomenology and we quantify the CPU performances of the two algorithms, pointing out the neat advantages offered by the no-rejection one. This technical advance has already opened the way to new investigations of the model, thus helping to shed light on the fundamental issue of categorization.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The Category Game is a multi-agent model that accounts for the emergence of shared categorization patterns in a population of interacting individuals. In the framework of the model, linguistic categories appear as long lived consensus states that are constantly reshaped and re-negotiated by the communicating individuals. It is therefore crucial to investigate the long time behavior to gain a clear understanding of the dynamics. However, it turns out that the evolution of the emerging category system is so slow, already for small populations, that such an analysis has remained so far impossible. Here, we introduce a fast no-rejection algorithm for the Category Game that disentangles the physical simulation time from the CPU time, thus opening the way for thorough analysis of the model. We verify that the new algorithm is equivalent to the old one in terms of the emerging phenomenology and we quantify the CPU performances of the two algorithms, pointing out the neat advantages offered by the no-rejection one. This technical advance has already opened the way to new investigations of the model, thus helping to shed light on the fundamental issue of categorization. |
Mukherjee, Animesh; Tria, Francesca; Baronchelli, Andrea; Puglisi, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio Aging in language dynamics (Journal Article) PLOS ONE, 6(2) , 2011. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Aging in language dynamics}, author = {Animesh Mukherjee and Francesca Tria and Andrea Baronchelli and Andrea Puglisi and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79951878510&partnerID=65&md5=cdc7034d1003aad153923fb5adf9ca72, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000287482300019&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {PLOS ONE}, volume = {6(2)}, publisher = {San Francisco, CA: Public Library of Science}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Loreto, Vittorio; Tria, Francesca In Silico Linguistics Comment on "Modeling the cultural evolution of language" by Luc Steels (Journal Article) PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS, 8 , pp. 371–372, 2011. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {In Silico Linguistics Comment on "Modeling the cultural evolution of language" by Luc Steels}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064511001011, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84857142593&partnerID=65&md5=139dbe1d36036cc0f4829f8f5c394b08, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000298457400009&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS}, volume = {8}, pages = {371--372}, publisher = {ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Loreto, Vittorio; Baronchelli, Andrea; Mukherjee, Animesh; Puglisi, Andrea; Tria, Francesca Statistical physics of language dynamics (Journal Article) JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT, P04006 , 2011. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, tria) @article{b, title = {Statistical physics of language dynamics}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Andrea Baronchelli and Animesh Mukherjee and Andrea Puglisi and Francesca Tria}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79955826233&partnerID=65&md5=01b4b20367082bee503a7ba5a2718b9d, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000289995100007&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT}, volume = {P04006}, publisher = {Bristol : IOP Publishing}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, tria}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
2010 |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Gong, Tao; Puglisi, Aandrea; Loreto, Vittorio Modeling the emergence of universality in color naming patterns (Journal Article) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS), 107 , pp. 2403–2407, 2010. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Modeling the emergence of universality in color naming patterns}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Tao Gong and Aandrea Puglisi and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-77349119009&partnerID=65&md5=6cdcb665c28403d74f0a0437b8e4c0cf http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2010/Baronchelli_PNAS_2010.pdf}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, journal = {PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS)}, volume = {107}, pages = {2403--2407}, publisher = {NATL ACAD SCIENCES}, abstract = {The empirical evidence that human color categorization exhibits some universal patterns beyond superficial discrepancies across different cultures is a major breakthrough in cognitive science. As observed in the World Color Survey (WCS), indeed, any two groups of individuals develop quite different categorization patterns, but some universal properties can be identified by a statistical analysis over a large number of populations. Here, we reproduce the WCS in a numerical model in which different populations develop independently their own categorization systems by playing elementary language games. We find that a simple perceptual constraint shared by all humans, namely the human Just Noticeable Difference (JND), is sufficient to trigger the emergence of universal patterns that unconstrained cultural interaction fails to produce. We test the results of our experiment against real data by performing the same statistical analysis proposed to quantify the universal tendencies shown in the WCS [Kay P & Regier T. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 9085-9089], and obtain an excellent quantitative agreement. This work confirms that synthetic modeling has nowadays reached the maturity to contribute significantly to the ongoing debate in cognitive science.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The empirical evidence that human color categorization exhibits some universal patterns beyond superficial discrepancies across different cultures is a major breakthrough in cognitive science. As observed in the World Color Survey (WCS), indeed, any two groups of individuals develop quite different categorization patterns, but some universal properties can be identified by a statistical analysis over a large number of populations. Here, we reproduce the WCS in a numerical model in which different populations develop independently their own categorization systems by playing elementary language games. We find that a simple perceptual constraint shared by all humans, namely the human Just Noticeable Difference (JND), is sufficient to trigger the emergence of universal patterns that unconstrained cultural interaction fails to produce. We test the results of our experiment against real data by performing the same statistical analysis proposed to quantify the universal tendencies shown in the WCS [Kay P & Regier T. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 9085-9089], and obtain an excellent quantitative agreement. This work confirms that synthetic modeling has nowadays reached the maturity to contribute significantly to the ongoing debate in cognitive science. |
Loreto, Vittorio; Baronchelli, Andrea; Puglisi, Andrea Mathematical modelling and language games (Incollection) (Eds), Stefano Nolfi; Maro Mirolli (Ed.): Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents, pp. 263–283, Springer-Verlag, 2010. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @incollection{b, title = {Mathematical modelling and language games}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Andrea Baronchelli and Andrea Puglisi}, editor = {Stefano Nolfi; Maro Mirolli (Eds)}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, booktitle = {Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents}, pages = {263--283}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } |
Steels, Luc; Loreto, Vittorio Modeling the Formation of Language in Embodied Agents: Conclusions and Future Research (Incollection) Mirolli, Eds. Nolfi; (Ed.): Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents,, pp. 283–288, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010. (Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @incollection{b, title = {Modeling the Formation of Language in Embodied Agents: Conclusions and Future Research}, author = {Luc Steels and Vittorio Loreto}, editor = {Eds. S. Nolfi; M. Mirolli}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, booktitle = {Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents,}, pages = {283--288}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, abstract = {This chapter draws some conclusions from the computational and mathematical models of emergent symbolic communication systems reported in the earlier chapters. It also strongly pleads for a stronger interaction between linguistics and other human sciences studying similar issues.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } This chapter draws some conclusions from the computational and mathematical models of emergent symbolic communication systems reported in the earlier chapters. It also strongly pleads for a stronger interaction between linguistics and other human sciences studying similar issues. |
Loreto, Vittorio Theoretical Tools in Modeling Communication and Language Dynamics (Incollection) Mirolli, Eds. Nolfi; (Ed.): Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents, pp. 67–81, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 2010. (Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @incollection{b, title = {Theoretical Tools in Modeling Communication and Language Dynamics}, author = {Vittorio Loreto}, editor = {Eds. S. Nolfi; M. Mirolli}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, booktitle = {Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents}, pages = {67--81}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, address = {Berlin-Heidelberg}, abstract = {Statistical physics has proven to be a very fruitful framework to describe phenomena outside the realm of traditional physics. In social phenomena, the basic constituents are not particles but humans and every individual interacts with a limited number of peers, usually negligible compared to the total number of people in the system. In spite of that, human societies are characterized by stunning global regularities that naturally call for a statistical physics approach to social behavior, i.e., the attempt to understand regularities at large scale as collective effects of the interaction among single individuals, considered as relatively simple entities. This is the paradigm of Complex Systems: an assembly of many interacting (and simple) units whose collective behavior is not trivially deducible from the knowledge of the rules governing their mutual interactions. In this chapter we review the main theoretical concepts and tools that physics can borrow to socially-motivated problems. Despite their apparent diversity, most research lines in social dynamics are actually closely connected from the point of view of both the methodologies employed and, more importantly, of the general phenomenological questions, e.g., what are the fundamental interaction mechanisms leading to the emergence of consensus on an issue, a shared culture, a common language or a collective motion? © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } Statistical physics has proven to be a very fruitful framework to describe phenomena outside the realm of traditional physics. In social phenomena, the basic constituents are not particles but humans and every individual interacts with a limited number of peers, usually negligible compared to the total number of people in the system. In spite of that, human societies are characterized by stunning global regularities that naturally call for a statistical physics approach to social behavior, i.e., the attempt to understand regularities at large scale as collective effects of the interaction among single individuals, considered as relatively simple entities. This is the paradigm of Complex Systems: an assembly of many interacting (and simple) units whose collective behavior is not trivially deducible from the knowledge of the rules governing their mutual interactions. In this chapter we review the main theoretical concepts and tools that physics can borrow to socially-motivated problems. Despite their apparent diversity, most research lines in social dynamics are actually closely connected from the point of view of both the methodologies employed and, more importantly, of the general phenomenological questions, e.g., what are the fundamental interaction mechanisms leading to the emergence of consensus on an issue, a shared culture, a common language or a collective motion? © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Gong, Tao; Loreto, Vittorio; Puglisi, Andrea ON THE ORIGIN OF UNIVERSAL CATEGORIZATION PATTERNS: AN IN SILICA EXPERIMENT (Inproceeding) The Evolution of Language - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference (EVOLANG8), pp. 365–366, 2010. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @inproceedings{b, title = {ON THE ORIGIN OF UNIVERSAL CATEGORIZATION PATTERNS: AN IN SILICA EXPERIMENT}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Tao Gong and Vittorio Loreto and Andrea Puglisi}, url = {http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000278248800047&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, booktitle = {The Evolution of Language - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference (EVOLANG8)}, pages = {365--366}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
2009 |
Castello, Xavi; Baronchelli, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio Consensus and ordering in language dynamics (Journal Article) THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. B, CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, 71 , pp. 557–564, 2009. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Consensus and ordering in language dynamics}, author = {Xavi Castello and Andrea Baronchelli and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-68249096249&partnerID=65&md5=76005b925ee20178a2b71d4d0564ea76 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2009/Castello_EurPhysJourB_2009.pdf}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-01}, journal = {THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. B, CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS}, volume = {71}, pages = {557--564}, publisher = {Les Ulis: EDP Sciences. 2000- Springer Verlag Germany:Tiergartenstrasse 17, D 69121 Heidelberg Germany:011 49 6221 3450, EMAIL: g.braun@springer.de, INTERNET: http://www.springer.de, Fax: 011 49 6221 345229}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Cattuto, Ciro; Loreto, Vittorio; Puglisi, Andrea Complex systems approach to the emergence of language (Incollection) Wang, James Minett; William (Ed.): Language, Evolution and the Brain, pp. 141–178, City University of Hong Kong Press, 2009. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @incollection{b, title = {Complex systems approach to the emergence of language}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Ciro Cattuto and Vittorio Loreto and Andrea Puglisi}, editor = {James Minett; William S-.Y. Wang}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-01}, booktitle = {Language, Evolution and the Brain}, pages = {141--178}, publisher = {City University of Hong Kong Press}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } |
2008 |
Gong, Tao; Puglisi, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio; Wang, William Conventionalization of linguistic knowledge under communicative constraints (Journal Article) BIOLOGICAL THEORY, 3 , pp. 154–163, 2008. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Conventionalization of linguistic knowledge under communicative constraints}, author = {Tao Gong and Andrea Puglisi and Vittorio Loreto and William S.-Y. Wang}, year = {2008}, date = {2008-01-01}, journal = {BIOLOGICAL THEORY}, volume = {3}, pages = {154--163}, publisher = {Cambridge, MA, USA, MIT Press Journals}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Puglisi, Andrea; Baronchelli, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio Cultural route to the emergence of linguistic categories (Journal Article) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS), 105 , pp. 7936–7939, 2008. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Cultural route to the emergence of linguistic categories}, author = {Andrea Puglisi and Andrea Baronchelli and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-45849101242&partnerID=65&md5=93cf92e119cb5a960d2778c3c697e945 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2008/Puglisi_PNAS_2008.pdf}, year = {2008}, date = {2008-01-01}, journal = {PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS)}, volume = {105}, pages = {7936--7939}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences:2101 Constitution Avenue Northwest:Washington, DC 20418:(877)314-2253, (615)377-3322, EMAIL: subspnas@nas.edu, INTERNET: http://www.pnas.org, Fax: (615)377-0525}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio; Steels, Luc In-depth analysis of the Naming Game dynamics: the homogeneous mixing case (Journal Article) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS C, 19 , pp. 785–812, 2008. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {In-depth analysis of the Naming Game dynamics: the homogeneous mixing case}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Vittorio Loreto and Luc Steels}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-47049099575&partnerID=65&md5=4a29772df34627191816997734000982 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2008/Baronchelli_arXiv_0803.0398v1_2008.pdf}, year = {2008}, date = {2008-01-01}, journal = {INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS C}, volume = {19}, pages = {785--812}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing Company:PO Box 128, Farrer Road, Singapore 912805 Singapore:011 65 6 4665775, EMAIL: journal@wspc.com.sg, INTERNET: http://www.wspc.com.sg, http://www.worldscinet.com, Fax: 011 65 6 4677667}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Gong, Tao; Puglisi, Andrea; Loreto, Vittorio; Wang, William Conventionalization of linguistic categories under simple communicative constraints (Inproceeding) Proceedings of 2008 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 1686–1693, 2008. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @inproceedings{b, title = {Conventionalization of linguistic categories under simple communicative constraints}, author = {Tao Gong and Andrea Puglisi and Vittorio Loreto and William S.-Y. Wang}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=4631017, http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-55749088202&partnerID=65&md5=3e30884ac215d834b6a446a0945bc0d5}, year = {2008}, date = {2008-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of 2008 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation}, pages = {1686--1693}, abstract = {The language game approach is widely adopted to study conventionalization of linguistic knowledge. Most of contemporary models concentrate on the dynamics of language games in random or predefined social structures, but neglect the role of communicative constraints. This paper adopts one form of language games, the category game, to discuss whether some simple distance-related communicative constraint may affect the conventionalization of linguistic categories. By comparing the simulation results with those based on another form of language games, the naming game, we point out some essential differences between these two games which cause their distinct performances under the same communicative constraint. This study fills the gap between the dynamics of language games in random structures and that in complex networks, and suggests that internal properties of language games may reversely influence communicative constraints and social structures.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } The language game approach is widely adopted to study conventionalization of linguistic knowledge. Most of contemporary models concentrate on the dynamics of language games in random or predefined social structures, but neglect the role of communicative constraints. This paper adopts one form of language games, the category game, to discuss whether some simple distance-related communicative constraint may affect the conventionalization of linguistic categories. By comparing the simulation results with those based on another form of language games, the naming game, we point out some essential differences between these two games which cause their distinct performances under the same communicative constraint. This study fills the gap between the dynamics of language games in random structures and that in complex networks, and suggests that internal properties of language games may reversely influence communicative constraints and social structures. |
2007 |
Barrat, Alain; Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Loreto, Vittorio Agreement dynamics on interaction networks with diverse topologies (Journal Article) CHAOS, 17 , pp. 026111–026115, 2007. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Agreement dynamics on interaction networks with diverse topologies}, author = {Alain Barrat and Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-34547353611&partnerID=65&md5=8d4a4050872c53ba75cc95e8520c4bd5 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2007/Barrat_Chaos_2007.pdf}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {CHAOS}, volume = {17}, pages = {026111--026115}, publisher = {American Institute of Physics:2 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 1NO1:Melville, NY 11747:(800)344-6902, (631)576-2287, EMAIL: subs@aip.org, INTERNET: http://www.aip.org, Fax: (516)349-9704}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Loreto, Vittorio; Steels, Luc Emergence of Language (Journal Article) NATURE PHYSICS, 3 , pp. 758–760, 2007. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Emergence of Language}, author = {Vittorio Loreto and Luc Steels}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-35748960499&partnerID=65&md5=13a826118a67df61642f363f78828665 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2007/Loreto_NaturePhys_2007.pdf}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {NATURE PHYSICS}, volume = {3}, pages = {758--760}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Non-equilibrium phase transition in negotiation dynamics (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 76 , pp. 051102:1–051102:4, 2007. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Non-equilibrium phase transition in negotiation dynamics}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-35948936459&partnerID=65&md5=eb4e4c9dc139286265ebd7f916e936e0 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2007/Baronchelli_PhysRevE_2007.pdf}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS}, volume = {76}, pages = {051102:1--051102:4}, publisher = {pubblicata da: AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOC, ONE PHYSICS ELLIPSE, COLLEGE PK, USA, MD, 20740-3844}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio The role of topology on the dynamics of the Naming Game (Journal Article) THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. SPECIAL TOPICS, 143 , pp. 233–235, 2007. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {The role of topology on the dynamics of the Naming Game}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-34249056135&partnerID=65&md5=8b2daa7fa607044c83128c248f43d436 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2007/Baronchelli_EPJSpecialTopics_2007.pdf}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-01-01}, journal = {THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. SPECIAL TOPICS}, volume = {143}, pages = {233--235}, publisher = {Elsevier Science Limited}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
2006 |
Cattuto, Ciro; Loreto, Vittorio; Servedio, Vito A Yule-Simon process with long-term memory (Journal Article) EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 76 , pp. 208–214, 2006. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto, servedio, techno_social_systems) @article{b, title = {A Yule-Simon process with long-term memory}, author = {Ciro Cattuto and Vittorio Loreto and Vito D.P. Servedio}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-33750355454&partnerID=65&md5=97945c5a7352e4354fd77989abe1b901 http://www.tagora-project.eu/wp-content/2007/05/cattuto2006yule.pdf}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {EUROPHYSICS LETTERS}, volume = {76}, pages = {208--214}, publisher = {EDP Sciences:17 Ave Du Hoggar, BP112, 91944 Les Ulis Cedex A France:011 33 1 69187575, EMAIL: subscribers@edpsciences.com, INTERNET: http://www.edpsciences.com, Fax: 011 33 1 69860678}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto, servedio, techno_social_systems}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Dall'Asta, Luca; Baronchelli, Andrea; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Agreement dynamics on small-world networks (Journal Article) EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 73 , pp. 969–975, 2006. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Agreement dynamics on small-world networks}, author = {Luca Dall'Asta and Andrea Baronchelli and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-33645230062&partnerID=65&md5=15efce9edd7907fd600f50ab4b9f7498 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2006/Dall%27Asta_EurophysLett_2006.pdf}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {EUROPHYSICS LETTERS}, volume = {73}, pages = {969--975}, publisher = {EDP Sciences:17 Ave Du Hoggar, BP112, 91944 Les Ulis Cedex A France:011 33 1 69187575, EMAIL: subscribers@edpsciences.com, INTERNET: http://www.edpsciences.com, Fax: 011 33 1 69860678}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Nonequilibrium dynamics of language games on complex networks (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 74 , pp. 036105:1–036105:13, 2006. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Nonequilibrium dynamics of language games on complex networks}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-33748696781&partnerID=65&md5=cc64be303c18646cd76a8fe460a36220 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2006/Dall%27Asta_PhysRevE_2006.pdf}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS}, volume = {74}, pages = {036105:1--036105:13}, publisher = {pubblicata da: AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOC, ONE PHYSICS ELLIPSE, COLLEGE PK, USA, MD, 20740-3844}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Aandrea; Loreto, Vittorio Ring structures and mean field passage time in networks (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 73 , pp. 026103–026109, 2006. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Ring structures and mean field passage time in networks}, author = {Aandrea Baronchelli and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-33344457811&partnerID=65&md5=119cf3f6f09d56d4ce82928d108caf1f, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=000235667700017&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=0c7ff228ccbaaa74236f48834a34396a}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS}, volume = {73}, pages = {026103--026109}, publisher = {AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOC, ONE PHYSICS ELLIPSE, COLLEGE PK, USA, MD, 20740-3844}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Felici, Maddalena; Loreto, Vittorio; Caglioti, Emanuele; Steels, Luc Sharp transition towards shared vocabularies in multi-agent systems (Journal Article) JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT, P06014 , pp. P06014–P06019, 2006. (Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Sharp transition towards shared vocabularies in multi-agent systems}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Maddalena Felici and Vittorio Loreto and Emanuele Caglioti and Luc Steels}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-42749102031&partnerID=65&md5=0d19c9fc9b115fd59f34ab6aa076a560 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2006/Baronchelli_JourStatMech_2006.pdf}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT}, volume = {P06014}, pages = {P06014--P06019}, abstract = {What processes can explain how very large populations are able to converge on the use of a particular word or grammatical construction without global coordination? Answering this question helps to understand why new language constructs usually propagate along an S-shaped curve with a rather sudden transition towards global agreement. It also helps to analyse and design new technologies that support or orchestrate self-organizing communication systems, such as recent social tagging systems for the web. The article introduces and studies a microscopic model of communicating autonomous agents performing language games without any central control. We show that the system undergoes a disorder/order transition, going through a sharp symmetry breaking process to reach a shared set of conventions. Before the transition, the system builds up non-trivial scale-invariant correlations, for instance in the distribution of competing synonyms, which display a Zipf-like law. These correlations make the system ready for the transition towards shared conventions, which, observed on the timescale of collective behaviours, becomes sharper and sharper with system size. This surprising result not only explains why human language can scale up to very large populations but also suggests ways to optimize artificial semiotic dynamics.}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } What processes can explain how very large populations are able to converge on the use of a particular word or grammatical construction without global coordination? Answering this question helps to understand why new language constructs usually propagate along an S-shaped curve with a rather sudden transition towards global agreement. It also helps to analyse and design new technologies that support or orchestrate self-organizing communication systems, such as recent social tagging systems for the web. The article introduces and studies a microscopic model of communicating autonomous agents performing language games without any central control. We show that the system undergoes a disorder/order transition, going through a sharp symmetry breaking process to reach a shared set of conventions. Before the transition, the system builds up non-trivial scale-invariant correlations, for instance in the distribution of competing synonyms, which display a Zipf-like law. These correlations make the system ready for the transition towards shared conventions, which, observed on the timescale of collective behaviours, becomes sharper and sharper with system size. This surprising result not only explains why human language can scale up to very large populations but also suggests ways to optimize artificial semiotic dynamics. |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Topology induced coarsening in language games (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 73 , pp. 015102–015105, 2006. (Links | BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @article{b, title = {Topology induced coarsening in language games}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-32844475670&partnerID=65&md5=1c3b97e4d519590a2e5dd017a0da5ea9 http://samarcanda.phys.uniroma1.it/vittorioloreto/PAPERS/2006/Baronchelli_PhysRevE_2006.pdf}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, journal = {PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS}, volume = {73}, pages = {015102--015105}, publisher = {AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOC, ONE PHYSICS ELLIPSE, COLLEGE PK, USA, MD, 20740-3844}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Canettieri, Paolo; Loreto, Vittorio; Rovetta, Marta; Santini, Giovanna Philology and information theory: towards an integrated approach (Incollection) Philippe Baret Andrea Bozzi, Caroline Mace'(Eds.) (Ed.): Textual criticism and genetics, 2006. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @incollection{b, title = {Philology and information theory: towards an integrated approach}, author = {Paolo Canettieri and Vittorio Loreto and Marta Rovetta and Giovanna Santini}, editor = {Philippe Baret, Andrea Bozzi, Caroline Mace'(Eds.)}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, booktitle = {Textual criticism and genetics}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {incollection} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Strategies for fast convergence in semiotic dynamics (Inproceeding) et al., Rocha (Ed.): Proceeding of the Artificial Life X Conference, pp. 480–485, 2006. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @inproceedings{Baronchelli2006, title = {Strategies for fast convergence in semiotic dynamics}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, editor = {L. M. Rocha et al.}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceeding of the Artificial Life X Conference}, pages = {480--485}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Dall'Asta, Luca; Barrat, Alain; Loreto, Vittorio Bootstrapping communication in language games (Inproceeding) A. Cangelosi, Smith; Smith, (Ed.): Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference (EVOLANG6), World Scientific Publishing Company, 2006. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @inproceedings{Baronchelli2006bis, title = {Bootstrapping communication in language games}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Luca Dall'Asta and Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto}, editor = {A. Cangelosi, A. D. M. Smith and K. Smith}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, booktitle = {Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference (EVOLANG6)}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing Company}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Caglioti, Emanuele; Loreto, Vittorio; Steels, Luc Complex systems approach to language games (Inproceeding) Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'0, 2006. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @inproceedings{Baronchelli2006ter, title = {Complex systems approach to language games}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Emanuele Caglioti and Vittorio Loreto and Luc Steels}, year = {2006}, date = {2006-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'0}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
2005 |
Baronchelli, Andrea; Felici, Maddalena; Caglioti, Emanuele; Loreto, Vittorio; Steels, Luc Self-organizing communication in language games (Inproceeding) Proceedings of the First European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'05, 2005. (BibTeX | Tags: language_dynamics, loreto) @inproceedings{Baronchelli2005, title = {Self-organizing communication in language games}, author = {Andrea Baronchelli and Maddalena Felici and Emanuele Caglioti and Vittorio Loreto and Luc Steels}, year = {2005}, date = {2005-01-01}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the First European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'05}, keywords = {language_dynamics, loreto}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inproceedings} } |
Publications
2016 |
Modeling The Emergence Of Creole Languages (Inproceeding) Roberts,; Cuskley,; McCrohon,; Barceló-Coblijn,; Fehér,; Verhoef, (Ed.): The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANGX11), 2016. |
The Emergence Of Rules And Exceptions In A Population Of Interacting Agents (Inproceeding) Roberts,; Cuskley,; McCrohon,; Barceló-Coblijn,; Fehér,; Verhoef, (Ed.): The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANGX11), 2016. |
2015 |
Modeling the Emergence of Contact Languages (Journal Article) PLoS ONE, 10 (4), pp. e0120771, 2015. |
The adoption of linguistic rules in native and non-native speakers: Evidence from a Wug task (Journal Article) Journal of Memory and Language, 84 , pp. 205 - 223, 2015, ISSN: 0749-596X. |
General three-state model with biased population replacement: Analytical solution and application to language dynamics (Journal Article) Phys. Rev. E, 91 , pp. 012808, 2015. |
2014 |
Internal and External Dynamics in Language: Evidence from Verb Regularity in a Historical Corpus of English (Journal Article) PLoS ONE, 9 , 2014. |
Language games: Comment on "Modelling language evolution: Examples and predictions" by Tao Gong, Lan Shuai, Menghan Zhang (Journal Article) Physics of Life Reviews, 11 (2), pp. 311 - 312, 2014, ISSN: 1571-0645. |
Modeling the emergence of a new language: Naming Game with hybridization (Incollection) Self-Organizing Systems, pp. 78–89, Springer, 2014. |
Language Games. Comment on "Modeling language evolution: examples and predictions" by Tao Gong (Journal Article) PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS, 11 , pp. 311–312, 2014. |
2013 |
Emergence of fast agreement in an overhearing population: The case of the naming game (Journal Article) EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 101 , 2013. |
Consensus in language dynamics: naming, categorizing and blending (Incollection) Shi, Feng; (Eds.), Gang Peng (Ed.): Festschrift in honor of Prof. William S-Y. Wang's 80th birthday, 2013. |
2012 |
Complex structures and semantics in free word association (Journal Article) ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM, 15 , pp. 1250054–1250075, 2012. |
Exploring the roles of complex networks in linguistic categorization (Journal Article) ARTIFICIAL LIFE, 18 (1) , pp. 107–121, 2012. |
Language Dynamics (Journal Article) ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM, 15 , pp. 1203002–12030011, 2012. |
Naming a structured world: a cultural route to duality of patterning (Journal Article) PLOS ONE, pp. e37744-1–e37744-8, 2012. |
On the origin of the hierarchy of color names (Journal Article) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS), 2012. |
Why are basic color names "basic"? (Journal Article) ADVANCES IN COMPLEX SYSTEM, 15 , pp. 1150016–1150028, 2012. |
2011 |
Linguistica in Silico (Journal Article) SISTEMI INTELLIGENTI, 2 , pp. 319–328, 2011. |
A fast no-rejection algorithm for the category game (Journal Article) JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE, 2 , pp. 316–323, 2011. |
Aging in language dynamics (Journal Article) PLOS ONE, 6(2) , 2011. |
In Silico Linguistics Comment on "Modeling the cultural evolution of language" by Luc Steels (Journal Article) PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS, 8 , pp. 371–372, 2011. |
Statistical physics of language dynamics (Journal Article) JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT, P04006 , 2011. |
2010 |
Modeling the emergence of universality in color naming patterns (Journal Article) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS), 107 , pp. 2403–2407, 2010. |
Mathematical modelling and language games (Incollection) (Eds), Stefano Nolfi; Maro Mirolli (Ed.): Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents, pp. 263–283, Springer-Verlag, 2010. |
Modeling the Formation of Language in Embodied Agents: Conclusions and Future Research (Incollection) Mirolli, Eds. Nolfi; (Ed.): Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents,, pp. 283–288, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010. |
Theoretical Tools in Modeling Communication and Language Dynamics (Incollection) Mirolli, Eds. Nolfi; (Ed.): Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents, pp. 67–81, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg, 2010. |
ON THE ORIGIN OF UNIVERSAL CATEGORIZATION PATTERNS: AN IN SILICA EXPERIMENT (Inproceeding) The Evolution of Language - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference (EVOLANG8), pp. 365–366, 2010. |
2009 |
Consensus and ordering in language dynamics (Journal Article) THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. B, CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, 71 , pp. 557–564, 2009. |
Complex systems approach to the emergence of language (Incollection) Wang, James Minett; William (Ed.): Language, Evolution and the Brain, pp. 141–178, City University of Hong Kong Press, 2009. |
2008 |
Conventionalization of linguistic knowledge under communicative constraints (Journal Article) BIOLOGICAL THEORY, 3 , pp. 154–163, 2008. |
Cultural route to the emergence of linguistic categories (Journal Article) PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (PNAS), 105 , pp. 7936–7939, 2008. |
In-depth analysis of the Naming Game dynamics: the homogeneous mixing case (Journal Article) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MODERN PHYSICS C, 19 , pp. 785–812, 2008. |
Conventionalization of linguistic categories under simple communicative constraints (Inproceeding) Proceedings of 2008 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 1686–1693, 2008. |
2007 |
Agreement dynamics on interaction networks with diverse topologies (Journal Article) CHAOS, 17 , pp. 026111–026115, 2007. |
Emergence of Language (Journal Article) NATURE PHYSICS, 3 , pp. 758–760, 2007. |
Non-equilibrium phase transition in negotiation dynamics (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 76 , pp. 051102:1–051102:4, 2007. |
The role of topology on the dynamics of the Naming Game (Journal Article) THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. SPECIAL TOPICS, 143 , pp. 233–235, 2007. |
2006 |
A Yule-Simon process with long-term memory (Journal Article) EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 76 , pp. 208–214, 2006. |
Agreement dynamics on small-world networks (Journal Article) EUROPHYSICS LETTERS, 73 , pp. 969–975, 2006. |
Nonequilibrium dynamics of language games on complex networks (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 74 , pp. 036105:1–036105:13, 2006. |
Ring structures and mean field passage time in networks (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 73 , pp. 026103–026109, 2006. |
Sharp transition towards shared vocabularies in multi-agent systems (Journal Article) JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS: THEORY AND EXPERIMENT, P06014 , pp. P06014–P06019, 2006. |
Topology induced coarsening in language games (Journal Article) PHYSICAL REVIEW E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS, 73 , pp. 015102–015105, 2006. |
Philology and information theory: towards an integrated approach (Incollection) Philippe Baret Andrea Bozzi, Caroline Mace'(Eds.) (Ed.): Textual criticism and genetics, 2006. |
Strategies for fast convergence in semiotic dynamics (Inproceeding) et al., Rocha (Ed.): Proceeding of the Artificial Life X Conference, pp. 480–485, 2006. |
Bootstrapping communication in language games (Inproceeding) A. Cangelosi, Smith; Smith, (Ed.): Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference (EVOLANG6), World Scientific Publishing Company, 2006. |
Complex systems approach to language games (Inproceeding) Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'0, 2006. |
2005 |
Self-organizing communication in language games (Inproceeding) Proceedings of the First European Conference on Complex Systems ECCS'05, 2005. |