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Emergence of Scale-Free Syntax Networks

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Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents

Abstract

The evolution of human language allowed the efficient propagation of nongenetic information, thus creating a new form of evolutionary change. Language development in children offers the opportunity of exploring the emergence of such complex communication system and provides a window to understanding the transition from protolanguage to language. Here we present the first analysis of the emergence of syntax in terms of complex networks. A previously unreported, sharp transition is shown to occur around two years of age from a (pre-syntactic) tree-like structure to a scale-free, small world syntax network. The observed combinatorial patterns provide valuable data to understand the nature of the cognitive processes involved in the acquisition of syntax, introducing a new ingredient to understand the possible biological endowment of human beings which results in the emergence of complex language. We explore this problem by using a minimal, data-driven model that is able to capture several statistical traits, but some key features related to the emergence of syntactic complexity display important divergences.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICREA-Complex Systems Lab, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

    Bernat Corominas-Murtra, Sergi Valverde & Ricard V. Solé

  2. Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA

    Ricard V. Solé

Authors
  1. Bernat Corominas-Murtra
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  2. Sergi Valverde
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  3. Ricard V. Solé
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Correspondence to Ricard V. Solé .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR Roma, ISTC - Ist. Scienze, Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, Roma, 00185, Italy

    Stefano Nolfi

  2. e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR Roma, ISTC - Ist. Scienze, Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, Roma, 00185, Italy

    Marco Mirolli

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Corominas-Murtra, B., Valverde, S., Solé, R.V. (2010). Emergence of Scale-Free Syntax Networks. In: Nolfi, S., Mirolli, M. (eds) Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01250-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01250-1_6

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