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Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Pagel

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK
    Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA)

  • Quentin D. Atkinson

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK)

  • Andrew Meade

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK)

Abstract

Words on the brink As a language evolves, grammatical rules emerge and exceptions die out. Lieberman et al. have calculated the rate at which a language grows more regular, based on 1,200 years of English usage. Of 177 irregular verbs, 79 became regular in the last millennium. And the trend follows a simple rule: a verb's half-life scales as the square root of its frequency. Irregular verbs that are 100 times as rare regularize 10 times faster. The emergence of a rule (such as adding –ed for the past tense) spells death for exceptional forms. The cover graphic makes the point: verb size corresponds to usage frequency, so large verbs stay at the top, and small verbs fall to the bottom. 'Wed', the next irregular verb to go, is on the brink. In a separate study, Pagel et al. looked at changing word meanings. Across the Indo-European languages, words like 'tail' or 'bird' evolve rapidly and are expressed by many unrelated words. Others, like 'two', are expressed by closely related word forms across the whole language family. Data from over 80 modern languages show that the more a word is used, the less it changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Pagel & Quentin D. Atkinson & Andrew Meade, 2007. "Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history," Nature, Nature, vol. 449(7163), pages 717-720, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:449:y:2007:i:7163:d:10.1038_nature06176
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06176
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    Cited by:

    1. Job Schepens & Ton Dijkstra & Franc Grootjen & Walter J B van Heuven, 2013. "Cross-Language Distributions of High Frequency and Phonetically Similar Cognates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-15, May.
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    3. Dustin S. Stoltz & Marshall A. Taylor, 2019. "Concept Mover’s Distance: measuring concept engagement via word embeddings in texts," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 293-313, July.
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    8. Xi, Ning & Zhang, Zi-Ke & Zhang, Yi-Cheng & Ge, Zehui & She, Li & Zhang, Kui, 2014. "Cultural evolution: The case of babies’ first names," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 406(C), pages 139-144.
    9. Liang Xu & Min Xu & Zehua Jiang & Xin Wen & Yishan Liu & Zaoyi Sun & Hongting Li & Xiuying Qian, 2023. "How have music emotions been described in Google books? Historical trends and corpus differences," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Ackermann, Malte, 2013. "The communication of innovation: an empirical analysis of the advancement of innovation," Discussion Papers on Strategy and Innovation 13-02, Philipps-University Marburg, Department of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM).
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    12. Heng Chen & Junying Liang & Haitao Liu, 2015. "How Does Word Length Evolve in Written Chinese?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-12, September.
    13. Eduardo G Altmann & Janet B Pierrehumbert & Adilson E Motter, 2011. "Niche as a Determinant of Word Fate in Online Groups," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(5), pages 1-12, May.
    14. Berman, Alexander & Mudambi, Ram & Shoham, Amir, 2022. "Linguistic structures and innovation: A behavioral approach," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    15. Damian Ruck & R. Alexander Bentley & Alberto Acerbi & Philip Garnett & Daniel J. Hruschka, 2017. "Role Of Neutral Evolution In Word Turnover During Centuries Of English Word Popularity," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(06n07), pages 1-16, September.
    16. Massimiliano Agovino & Michele Bevilacqua & Massimiliano Cerciello, 2022. "Language as a proxy for cultural change. A contrastive analysis for French and Italian lexicon on male homosexuality," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 149-172, February.

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