An agent-based model of a historical word order change

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 2015
Host editors
  • R. Berwick
  • A. Korhonen
  • A. Lenci
  • T. Poibeau
  • A. Villavicencio
Book title EMNLP 2015 : Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing
Book subtitle proceedings of the Sixth Workshop on Cognitive Aspects of Computational Language Learning (CogACLL-2015) : 18 September 2015, Lisbon, Portugal
ISBN
  • 9781941643327
Event Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing: Sixth Workshop on Cognitive Aspects of Computational Language Learning (CogACLL-2015)
Pages (from-to) 22-27
Publisher Stroudsburg, PA: Association for Computational Linguistics
Organisations
  • Faculty of Humanities (FGw) - Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR) - Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC)
Abstract We aim to demonstrate that agent-based models can be a useful tool for historical linguists, by modeling the historical development of verbal cluster word order in Germanic languages. Our results show that the current order in German may have developed due to increased use of subordinate clauses, while the English order is predicted to be influenced by the grammaticalization of the verb 'to have'. The methodology we use makes few assumptions, making it broadly applicable to other phenomena of language change.
Document type Conference contribution
Language English
Published at http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W15-2404
Downloads
CogACLL04 (Final published version)
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