This 15-month project explores the implications of viewing the grammars of natural languages as complex adaptive systems, and identifies new methodologies for linguistic research within complexity science.
The project employs complexity theory to model the interactions between the different components of the grammar (eg morphology, syntax, phonology) and the ways in which these interface with non-linguistic systems of the mind. It then uses these insights to sketch a new model of the organisation of the human language faculty, exploring consequences for current understanding of the evolution of language in humans.
Funding: University of Southampton Research and Enterprise Committee, July 2010 - September 2011.