Diachronic Processes in Language as Signaling under Conflicting Interests
نویسندگان
چکیده
Game-theory has found broad application in modeling pragmatic reasoning in cases of common and conflicting interests. Here we extend these considerations to diachronic patterns of language use. We use evolutionary game theory to characterize the effect of conflicting interests on linguistic signaling in a population over time. We show how sufficiently large conflicts of interest give rise to particular patterns of signaling that can be used to model diachronic processes such as Jespersen’s Cycle.
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