Research Limor Raviv (IMAGE)

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Research Limor Raviv

Caption

Community size matters when people create a new language

Why do some languages have simpler grammars than others? Researchers from the Netherlands and the UK propose that the size of the community influences the complexity of the language that evolves in it. When small and large groups of participants played a 'communication game' using only gibberish words they had to invent, the languages invented by larger groups were more systematic than languages of smaller groups, showing that community size is important for shaping grammar.

Publication

Raviv, L., Meyer, A., Lev-Ari, S. (2019). Larger communities create more systematic languages. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1262

Questions? Contact:

Limor Raviv
Phone: +31 24 751126
Email: Limor.Raviv@mpi.nl

Marjolein Scherphuis (press officer)
Phone: +31 24 3521947
Email: Marjolein.Scherphuis@mpi.nl

Credit

Limor Raviv

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