Tag: research

We are delighted to welcome Rachael Bailes, from Newcastle University, as the first speaker in our research seminar series this semester.

The talk takes place in person in room 205 in the Squires Annexe building. 

You can find directions to the campus and a campus map here:

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-campuses/newcastle-city-campus/

We will also be streaming the talk for people who would like to attend that way. For the link to join, please email Billy Clark: billy.clark@northumbria.ac.uk

Rachael works on language evolution, cognitive science and social cognition. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher on the ESRC funded project ‘Constraints on the Adaptiveness of Information in Language (CAIL)’ at Newcastle. You can find out more about Rachael’s work at: https://rbailes.wordpress.com

The title of Rachael’s talk is:

‘Information uniformity in linguistic planning: form and function for noise resistance’

The abstract is below.

The talk is open to all. For any queries, please email Billy Clark: billy.clark@northumbria.ac.uk

The full programme for this semester is at: https://northumbriaenglish.org/northumbria-linguistics-seminars-2021-2022/

. . .

Abstract:

In this talk I’ll summarise two recent studies conducted with colleagues on the project `Constraints on the Adaptiveness of Information in Language (CAIL)’, which involves using information theory to analyse language and its cognitive scaffolding. 

Following Fenk and Fenk (1980, see also; Fenk-Oczlon, 2001), we suggest that information uniformity in linguistic planning represents an adaptation to noise resistance. We further suggest that language exhibits particular strategies for noise resistance that may be unique. Specifically, linguistic elements may be ordered across the whole utterance so as to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic communication failure in the presence of noise.

First, we demonstrate that more uniform ordering of elements confers functional noise resistance with a simulation study that compares the preservation of information in different distributions under conditions of noise. Second, we use historical corpus data on English and Icelandic to show that information uniformity is specifically and actively preserved by linguistic planning across time, unperturbed by structural language change. Taken together, this evidence suggests form and function for noise resistance in language, and the talk ends with some brief discussion about the future directions of this work. 

Fenk, A., & Fenk, G. (1980). Konstanz im kurzzeitgedächtnis-konstanz imsprachlichen informationsfluß. Zeitschrift für experimentelle und ange-wandte Psychologie,27, 402.

Fenk-Oczlon, G. (2001). Familiarity, information flow, and linguistic form. Typological Studies in Language,45, 431–448.