Introduction to algorithms
The emergence of linguistic structure: an overview of the iterated learning model
Simulating the evolution of language
Phonemic coding might result from sensory-motor coupling dynamics
ICSAB Proceedings of the seventh international conference on simulation of adaptive behavior on From animals to animats
Iterated learning: a framework for the emergence of language
Artificial Life
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A fundamental characteristic of human speech is that it uses a limited set of basic building blocks (phonemes, syllables), that are put to use in many different combinations to mark differences in meaning. This article investigates the evolution of such combinatorial phonology with a simulated population of agents. We first argue that it is a challenge to explain the transition from holistic to combinatorial phonology, as the first agent that has a mutation for using combinatorial speech does not benefit from this in a population of agents that use a holistic signaling system. We then present a solution for this evolutionary deadlock. We present experiments that show that when a repertoire of holistic signals is optimized for distinctiveness in a population of agents, it converges to a situation in which the signals can be analyzed as combinatorial, even though the agents are not aware of this structure. We argue that in this situation adaptations for productive combinatorial phonology can spread.