English

An Ising-like model for language evolution

Multiagent Systems 2023-05-24 v1

Abstract

I propose a novel Ising-like model of language evolution. In a simple way, Ising-like models represent the countervailing tendencies towards convergence and change present in language evolution. In the ordinary Ising-model, a node on a graph, in this case representing a language speaker, interacts with all its neighbors. In contrast, in the model proposed here, a node only interacts with the neighboring node whose state-vector is most similar to its own. This reflects the tendency of people to interact with others who speak a similar language. Unlike the ordinary Ising model, which tends towards language continua, this new model allows language boundaries.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2305.13916,
  title  = {An Ising-like model for language evolution},
  author = {Conor Houghton},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2305.13916},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Three page extended abstract, accepted to ALIFE 2023

R2 v1 2026-06-28T10:42:46.872Z