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Detecting evolutionary forces in language change

Author

Listed:
  • Mitchell G. Newberry

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Christopher A. Ahern

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Robin Clark

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Joshua B. Plotkin

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Analyses of digital corpora of annotated texts reveal the influence of stochastic drift versus selection in grammatical shifts in English and provide a general method for quantitatively testing theories of language change.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitchell G. Newberry & Christopher A. Ahern & Robin Clark & Joshua B. Plotkin, 2017. "Detecting evolutionary forces in language change," Nature, Nature, vol. 551(7679), pages 223-226, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:551:y:2017:i:7679:d:10.1038_nature24455
    DOI: 10.1038/nature24455
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Danqing Zhang & Guowen Huang & Jiaen Zhang & Xiaoyu Hou & Tianyi Zhou & Xianyuan Chang & Ying Ge & Jie Chang, 2022. "The Evolution of Sustainability Ideas in China from 1946 to 2015, Quantified by Culturomics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Shimpei Okuda & Michio Hosaka & Kazutoshi Sasahara, 2023. "Detecting directional forces in the evolution of grammar: A case study of the English perfect with intransitives across EEBO, COHA, and Google Books," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Siyu Duan & Jun Wang & Hao Yang & Qi Su, 2023. "Disentangling the cultural evolution of ancient China: a digital humanities perspective," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Jun Wang & Siyu Duan & Binghao Fu & Liangcai Gao & Qi Su, 2024. "Evol project: a comprehensive online platform for quantitative analysis of ancient literature," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Tyler J Gray & Andrew J Reagan & Peter Sheridan Dodds & Christopher M Danforth, 2018. "English verb regularization in books and tweets," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Christine Cuskley, 2019. "Alien forms for alien language: investigating novel form spaces in cultural evolution," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, December.

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