Social structure and lexical uniformity: a case study of gender differences in the Kata Kolok community
Mudd,Katie Lutzenberger,Hannah de Vos,Connie de Boer,Bart
Mudd,Katie
Lutzenberger,Hannah
de Vos,Connie
de Boer,Bart
Abstract
Language emergence is characterized by a high degree of lexical variation. It has been suggested that the speed at which lexical conventionalization occurs depends partially on social structure. In large communities, individuals receive input from many sources, creating a pressure for lexical convergence. In small, insular communities, individuals can remember idiolects and share common ground with interlocuters, allowing these communities to retain a high degree of lexical variation. We look at lexical variation in Kata Kolok, a sign language which emerged six generations ago in a Balinese village, where women tend to have more tightly-knit social networks than men. We test if there are differing degrees of lexical uniformity between women and men by reanalyzing a picture description task in Kata Kolok. We find that women’s productions exhibit less lexical uniformity than men’s. One possible explanation of this finding is that women’s more tightly-knit social networks allow for remembering idiolects, alleviating the pressure for lexical convergence, but social network data from the Kata Kolok community is needed to support this explanation.
Description
Funding Information: We would like to thank all KK signers as well as the research assistants in the KK community. Thanks to Tessa and Ross for all your ideas and support on this project (it would not have happened without you!), as well as to Yannick and Marnix for your support and help. A special thanks to Limor for sharing her insights and providing extensive feedback on a draft. This research was supported by the FWO-NWO grant “The emergence of phonology within six generations” awarded to Connie de Vos, Paula Fikkert and Bart de Boer, the Flemish AI plan, and the ERC Starting Grant ”Emergence of Language in Social Interaction” awarded to Connie de Vos. Publisher Copyright: © Cognitive Science Society: Comparative Cognition: Animal Minds, CogSci 2021.All rights reserved.
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Input Variability, Kata Kolok, Language Emergence, Lexical Uniformity, Sign Language, Social Structure
Citation
Mudd, K, Lutzenberger, H, de Vos, C & de Boer, B 2021, 'Social structure and lexical uniformity : a case study of gender differences in the Kata Kolok community', Paper presented at 43rd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Comparative Cognition: Animal Minds, CogSci 2021, Virtual, Online, Austria, 26/07/21 - 29/07/21 pp. 2692-2698.