We examine the evolution of the vocabulary of a group of individuals (linguistic agents) on a scale-free network, using Monte Carlo simulations and assumptions from evolutionary game theory. It is known that when the agents are arranged in a two-dimensional lattice structure and interact by...

We use the formulation of equilibrium statistical mechanics in order to study some important characteristics of language. Using a simple expression for the Hamiltonian of a language system, which is directly implied by the Zipf law, we are able to explain several characteristic features of human...

Language development in children provides a window to understand 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...

This is an overview of recent computational work done in the simulated evolution of language. It is prefaced by an overview of the broader issues in linguistics that computational models may help to clarify. Is language innate – genetically specified in the human organism in some way, a...

We study the role played by bilinguals in the competition between two languages and in the formation of a bilingual community. To this aim we introduce a simple three-state model that combines the Minett–Wang model, in which the bilinguals do not affect directly the probability of transition...