Artificial languages are
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
s of a typically very limited size which emerge either in computer simulations between artificial agents, robot interactions or controlled psychological experiments with humans. They are different from both
constructed language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
s and
formal language
In logic, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics, a formal language consists of words whose letters are taken from an alphabet and are well-formed according to a specific set of rules.
The alphabet of a formal language consists of symb ...
s in that they have been consciously devised by an individual or group but are the result of (distributed) conventionalisation processes, much like
natural language
In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...
s. Opposed to the idea of a central ''designer'', the field of artificial language evolution in which artificial languages are studied can be regarded as a sub-part of the more general
cultural evolution
Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of culture as "information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation a ...
studies.
Origin
The idea of creation of artificial language arose in 17th and 18th century as a result of gradually decreasing international role of Latin. The initial schemes were mainly aimed at the development of a rational language free from inconsistence of living language and based on classification of concepts. The material of living languages also appears later.
Motivation
The lack of empirical evidence in the field of
evolutionary linguistics
Evolutionary linguistics or Darwinian linguistics is a sociobiological approach to the study of language. Evolutionary linguists consider linguistics as a subfield of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. The approach is also closely linked ...
has led many researchers to adopt computer simulations as a means to investigate the ways in which artificial agents can self-organize languages with natural-like properties. This research is based on the hypothesis that
natural language
In neuropsychology, linguistics, and philosophy of language, a natural language or ordinary language is any language that has evolved naturally in humans through use and repetition without conscious planning or premeditation. Natural languages ...
is a
complex adaptive system
A complex adaptive system is a system that is ''complex'' in that it is a dynamic network of interactions, but the behavior of the ensemble may not be predictable according to the behavior of the components. It is ''adaptive'' in that the individ ...
that emerges through interactions between individuals and continues to evolve in order to remain adapted to the needs and capabilities of its users. By explicitly building all assumptions into computer simulations, this strand of research strives to experimentally investigate the dynamics underlying
language change
Language change is variation over time in a language's features. It is studied in several subfields of linguistics: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and evolutionary linguistics. Traditional theories of historical linguistics identify ...
as well as questions regarding the
origin of language under controlled conditions.
Due to its success the paradigm has also been extended to investigate the emergence of new languages in psychological experiments with humans, leading up to the new paradigm of
experimental semiotics
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...
.
Because the focus of the investigations lies on the conventionalisation dynamics and higher-level properties of the resulting languages rather than specific details of the conventions, artificially evolved languages are typically not documented or re-used outside the single experiment trial or simulation run in which they emerge. In fact, the limited size and short-lived nature of artificial languages are probably the only things that sets them apart from ''natural'' languages, since ''all'' languages are artificial insofar as they are
conventional (see also
constructed language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
).
Uses
Artificial languages have been used in research in developmental psycholinguistics. Because researchers have a great deal of control over artificial languages, they have used these languages in
statistical language acquisition
Statistical language acquisition, a branch of developmental psycholinguistics, studies the process by which humans develop the ability to perceive, produce, comprehend, and communicate with natural language in all of its aspects (phonological, synt ...
studies, in which it can be helpful to control the linguistic patterns heard by infants.
See also
*
Evolutionary linguistics
Evolutionary linguistics or Darwinian linguistics is a sociobiological approach to the study of language. Evolutionary linguists consider linguistics as a subfield of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. The approach is also closely linked ...
*
Language game
A language game (also called a cant, secret language, ludling, or argot) is a system of manipulating spoken words to render them incomprehensible to an untrained listener. Language games are used primarily by groups attempting to conceal their c ...
*
Language creation in artificial intelligence
*
Signaling game
In game theory, a signaling game is a simple type of a dynamic Bayesian game.Subsection 8.2.2 in Fudenberg Trole 1991, pp. 326–331
The essence of a signalling game is that one player takes an action, the signal, to convey information to another ...
References
External links
Alan Reed Libert
Artificial Languages'', Oxford Research Encyclopedia on Linguistics, June 2018{{Authority control
Language