Some linguists think of language as a living thing: It grows and changes, and every time a child learns it, the language reproduces itself. Now, a team of researchers is using the analogy of evolution to explain language change, arguing that key factors in biological evolution—like natural selection and genetic drift—have parallels in how languages change over time. And it turns out that the random changes, known as “drift” in biology, may have played an outsized role in the evolution of the English language.
Read Article: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/how-english-language-has-evolved-living-creature Comments are closed.
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AuthorBrady Aldinger |