Experimental Semiotics Studies On The Emergence And Evolution Of Human Communication 1st Edition Bruno Galantucci Simon Garrod by Bruno Galantucci; Simon Garrod 9789027202642, 9027202648, 2012013477 instant download after payment.

Computational simulations have provided evidence that the use of linguistic cues as group markers plays an important role in the development of linguistic diversity. Other simulations, however, have contradicted these findings. Similar disagreements exist in sociolinguistics. This paper describes an experimental study in which participants played an anonymous economic game using an instant-messenger-style program and an artificial ‘alien language’. The competitiveness of the game and the frequency with which players interacted were manipulated. Given frequent enough interaction with team-mates, players were able to use linguistic cues to identify themselves. In the most competitive condition, this led to divergence in the language, which did not occur in other conditions. This suggests that both frequency of interaction and a pressure to use language to mark identity play a significant role in encouraging linguistic divergence over short periods, but that neither is sufficient on its own.