Consensus under constraints: Modeling the great english vowel shift

Abstract

Human culture is fundamentally tied with language. We argue that the study of language change and diffusion in a society sheds light on its cultural patterns and social conventions. In addition, language can be viewed as a "model problem" through which to study complex norm emergence scenarios. In this paper we study a particular linguistically oriented complex norm emergence scenario, the Great English Vowel Shift (GEVS). We develop a model that integrates both social aspects (interaction between agents), and internal aspects (constraints on how much an agent can change). This model differs from much of the existing norm emergence models in its modeling of large, complex normative spaces. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.