Semantic Approximation And Its Effect On The Development Of Lexical Conventions

We define a signaling games setting for investigating how short- and long-term conventions are established in a community of interacting speakers. Using simulations, we model a particular type of non-literal use of linguistic expressions, semantic approximation, and investigate its effects on lexical alignment, ambiguity, polysemy, and communicative success. Critically, in our approach agents do not only keep track of a lexicon reflecting conventions at the level of the community, but also of a discourse lexicon that stores information agreed upon by the participants in a specific dialogue. We find that semantic approximation creates opportunities for discourse-level lexicalization, which boosts the expected utility of the discourse lexicon, and that it can have a profound effect on the evolution of community-level lexical resources.