I'm just talking with my generation: The crucial role of the first peer group in modeling initial lexical consensus
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2012
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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Thesis (B.A.)
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Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
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Abstract
This paper focuses on the role of peer-provided input to language learners as an
essential ingredient in language development, and calls attention to the repeated oversight
of this influence in artificial models of the process. Examining the case of Nicaraguan Sign
Language, I show an instance of language creation that is both extremely quick—nearing
completion after two half-generations of learners—and whose first growth is exclusively
peer-to-peer. Studying the work of several authors, I explore productive proposals of
modeling various aspects of language acquisition and linguistic change, but when compared
to the speed of real language nascence, all of these attempts are lacking. Building from these
simulations, and in light of the evidence from Nicaraguan Sign Language, I suggest a new
model, focusing on the tools that must be given to learners in order for a single generation
to create a simple system of language. In imitating the specialized learning methods of K.
Smith (2002), I demonstrate the capacity of a single peer group to establish a lexicon that is
communal though limited in size.