The historical origins of natural language cannot be observed directly. We can, however,
study systems that support language and we can also develop models that explore the …

This article reviews recent progress made by computational studies investigating the
emergence, via learning or evolutionary mechanisms, of communication among a collection …

Language is culturally transmitted. Iterated learning, the process by which the output of one
individual's learning becomes the input to other individuals' learning, provides a framework …

This book addresses universal tendencies of human vowel systems from the point of view of
self-organization. It uses computer simulations to show that the same universal tendencies …

How do communities establish shared communication systems? The Common Knowledge
view assumes that symbolic conventions develop through the accumulation of common …

I would also like to thank those who helped set me on the path that has led me here: my first
linguistics teacher, John Haviland, for planting the seed that would eventually turn into a …

After having been plagued for centuries by unfounded speculations, the study of language
evolution is now emerging as an area of legitimate scientific inquiry. Early conjectures about …

Human language is learned, symbolic and exhibits syntactic structure, a set of properties
which make it unique among naturally-occurring communication systems. How did human …

Computational simulations have provided evidence that the use of linguistic cues as group
markers plays an important role in the development of linguistic diversity shortcite (Nettle & …

Human language has no close parallels in other systems of animal communication. Yet it is
an important part of the cultural adaptation that serves to make humans an exceedingly …