Social Structure and Language Structure: the New Nomothetic Approach

• Authors: Seán Roberts , James Winters
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Recent studies have taken advantage of newly available, large-scale, cross-linguistic data and new statistical techniques to look at the relationship between language structure and social structure. These ‘nomothetic’ approaches contrast with more traditional approaches and a tension is observed between proponents of each method. We review some nomothetic studies and point out some challenges that must be overcome. However, we argue that nomothetic approaches can contribute to our understanding of the links between social structure and language structure if they address these challenges and are taken as part of a body of mutually supporting evidence. Nomothetic studies are a powerful tool for generating hypotheses that can go on to be corroborated and tested with experimental and theoretical approaches. These studies are highlighting the effect of interaction on language.

Keywords

EN

nomothetic; social structure; complex adaptive systems; linguistic niche hypothesis; cultural evolution

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Psychology of Language and Communication
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 89-112

Dates

published

2012-12-01

online

2012-12-28

Contributors

author

Seán Roberts

• Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh Dugald Stewart Building, 3 Charles Street Edinburgh, EH8 9AD

author

James Winters

• University of Edinburgh

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10057-012-0008-6