Distinguishing selection pressures in an evolving communication system: Evidence from color-naming in “cross signing”

Byun, Kang-Suk, Roberts, Seán G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5990-9161, de Vos, Connie, Zeshan, Ulrike and Levinson, Stephen C. 2022. Distinguishing selection pressures in an evolving communication system: Evidence from color-naming in “cross signing”. Frontiers in Communication 7 , 1024340. 10.3389/fcomm.2022.1024340

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Abstract

Cross-signing—the emergence of an interlanguage between users of different sign languages—offers a rare chance to examine the evolution of a natural communication system in real time. To provide an insight into this process, we analyse an annotated video corpus of 340 minutes of interaction between signers of different language backgrounds on their first meeting and after living with each other for several weeks. We focus on the evolution of shared color terms and examine the role of different selectional pressures, including frequency, content, coordination and interactional context. We show that attentional factors in interaction play a crucial role. This suggests that understanding meta-communication is critical for explaining the cultural evolution of linguistic systems.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher:	Frontiers Media
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 January 2023
Date of Acceptance:	21 November 2022
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 13:50
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/155351

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