The evolution of evolutionary linguistics
This paper presents a scientometric study of the evolution of evolutionary linguistics, a multidisciplinary field that investigates the origin and evolution of language.
Imitation of novel conspecific and human speech sounds in the killer whale (Orcinus orca)
Vocal imitation is a hallmark of human spoken language, which, along with other advanced cognitive skills, has fuelled the evolution of human culture. Comparative evidence has revealed that although the ability to copy sounds from conspecifics is mostly uniquely human among primates, a few distantly related taxa of birds and mammals have also independently evolved this capacity.
Posted inResearch Sign Technology
Kinect-ing the Dots: Using Motion-Capture Technology to Distinguish Sign Language Linguistic From Gestural Expressions
Stamp, R., Cohn, D., Hel-Or, H., & Sandler, W. | Just as vocalization proceeds in a continuous stream in speech, so too do movements of the hands, face, and body in sign languages. Here, we use motion-capture technology to distinguish lexical signs in sign language from other common types of expression in the signing stream. One type of expression is constructed action, the enactment of (aspects of) referents and events by (parts of) the body.
Cross-Cultural Conceptualizations of Love: Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Metaphors in Poems of Kabir and Rumi
Researchers: Abhijeet Satsangi, Sanjukta Ghosh | This study explores the conceptual metaphors of love in the selected thirty Hindi poems by 15th-century Indian mystic poet Kabir and thirty poems by 13th-century Persian Sufi mystic poet Rumi. This research involved the thematic analysis with an emphasis on Identifying Conceptual Metaphors of Love in the poems of the two renowned poets.
Posted inCognition Language learning Music Research
How music facilitates second language (L2) learning: a systematic review from 2002 to 2022
Sun, B., Yang, J., & Liang, Z.
| Applying music to learners’ language learning/acquisition has a long research history. However, given that second language (L2) learning/acquisition is a complex process, the studies regarding applying music to L2 learning/acquisition are comparatively fragmented.
Posted inItalian NLP Research Technology
Language Varieties of Italy: Technology Challenges & Opportunities
Researcher: Alan Ramponi | Italy is characterized by a one-of-a-kind linguistic diversity landscape in Europe, which implicitly encodes local knowledge, cultural traditions, artistic expressions, and history of its speakers. However, most local languages and dialects in Italy are at risk of disappearing within a few generations. The NLP community has recently begun to engage with endangered languages, including those of Italy.
Posted inAnimals Pragmatics Research
How to do things with nonwords: pragmatics, biosemantics, and origins of language in animal communication
Recent discussions of animal communication and the evolution of language have advocated adopting a ‘pragmatics-first’ approach, according to which “a more productive framework” for primate communication research should be “pragmatics, the field of linguistics that examines the role of context in shaping the meaning of linguistic utterances” (Wheeler and Fischer, Evol Anthropol 21:195–205, 2012: 203). After distinguishing two different conceptions of pragmatics that advocates of the pragmatics-first approach have implicitly relied on (one Carnapian, the other Gricean), I argue that neither conception adequately serves the purposes of pragmatics-first approaches to the origins of human linguistic communication.
Animal linguistics: a primer
The evolution of language has been investigated by several research communities, including biologists and linguists, striving to highlight similar linguistic capacities across species. To date, however, no consensus exists on the linguistic capacities of non-human species. Major controversies remain on the use of linguistic terminology, analysis methods and behavioural data collection.
Posted inCognition Research Technology
Dissociating language and thought in large language models
Large language models (LLMs) have come closest among all models to date to mastering human language, yet opinions about their linguistic and cognitive capabilities remain split. Here, we evaluate LLMs using a distinction between formal linguistic competence (knowledge of linguistic rules and patterns) and functional linguistic competence (understanding and using language in the world).
The social structure of signing communities and lexical variation: A cross-linguistic comparison of three unrelated sign languages
Claims have been made about the relationship between the degree of lexical variation and the social structure of a sign language community (e.g., population size), but to date there exist no large-scale cross-linguistic comparisons to address these claims. In this study, we present a cross-linguistic analysis of lexical variation in three signing communities: Kata Kolok, Israeli Sign Language (ISL) and British Sign Language (BSL).