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Linguistic Variation and Change: Approach from the Perspective of Complex Adaptive Systems

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Complexity Applications in Language and Communication Sciences

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Abstract

We provide general theoretical introduction to the topic of linguistic change from the perspective of dynamic systems and applying the concepts developed by the ECCO (Evolution , Complexity and Cognition ) group’s paradigm as a “conceptual framework, based on an ontology of action ”. We apply a look to linguistic change from complexity paradigm and we link the ECCO concepts with different areas of linguistics that deal with linguistic change .

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As an example of the constant dynamics of complex systems , I like to mention what happens with our eyes. The eyes do not stop moving as we look at any immobile object. In order to be able to see it in its static quality, our visual activity is in continuous dynamics (Kandel et al. 1991: 674), the eye must move because the image does not disappear from our field of vision.

  2. 2.

    Let’s see, for example, the catalan word ca of the Balearic dialect which was general in Catalan and alternated with gos (documented from the 15th century), ca has remained in the oral language as a habitual form only in Balearic and in northern Catalan (ALDC, map 1476). In English, in northern England and Scotland, they use bairn (Scot.beyrn) instead of child (Old English bearn, of Germanic origin; related to the verb bear).

  3. 3.

    For example assimilation tendencies, which are often considered that facilitate pronunciation, can be much more frequent in some varieties than in others and may vary in several ways. For instance, in Mallorca they assimilate the c to the t (actor) ct  >  tt, or ps  >  ts (capsa). That does not happen in the other catalan varieties in this particular lexical item, but it can happen in others (rector [rett’o]).

  4. 4.

    Neural network that allows the perception of social signals, the formation of social memory and social experience.

  5. 5.

    See Bastardas-Boada (2016): Complexics instead of Complexity when we refer to our way to look and to study complexity .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics, Projecte Scripta (FFI2016-80482P), Sociocomplexity—Complexity, Communication and Sociolinguistics Group, CUSC—Research Centre for Sociolinguistics and Communication, UBICS—Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Àngels Massip-Bonet

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  1. Àngels Massip-Bonet
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Correspondence to Àngels Massip-Bonet .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Catalan Philology and General Linguistics, Scripta (FFI2016-80482P), UBICS, CUSC, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Àngels Massip-Bonet

  2. Grupo de Ingeniería Lingüística, Instituto de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Gemma Bel-Enguix

  3. Department de Lingüística General, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Albert Bastardas-Boada

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Massip-Bonet, À. (2019). Linguistic Variation and Change: Approach from the Perspective of Complex Adaptive Systems. In: Massip-Bonet, À., Bel-Enguix, G., Bastardas-Boada, A. (eds) Complexity Applications in Language and Communication Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04598-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04598-2_5

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04598-2

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