Microevolutionary language theory
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000.
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2005
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9024 |
| _version_ | 1826192719864659968 |
|---|---|
| author | Best, Michael Lloyd |
| author2 | Pattie Maes. |
| author_facet | Pattie Maes. Best, Michael Lloyd |
| author_sort | Best, Michael Lloyd |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:27:53Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/9024 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:27:53Z |
| publishDate | 2005 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/90242019-04-10T11:15:46Z Microevolutionary language theory Best, Michael Lloyd Pattie Maes. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Architecture. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000. Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-245). A new microevolutionary theory of complex design within language is proposed. Experiments were carried out that support the theory that complex functional design - adaptive complexity - accumulates due to the evolutionary algorithm at the simplest levels within human natural language. A large software system was developed which identifies and tracks evolutionary dynamics within text discourse. With this system hundreds of examples of activity suggesting evolutionary significance were distilled from a text collection of many millions of words. Research contributions include: (1) An active replicator model of microevolutionary dynamics within natural language, (2) methods to distill active replicators offering evidence of evolutionary processes in action and at multiple linguistic levels (lexical, lexical co-occurrence, lexico-syntactic, and syntactic), (3) a demonstration that language evolution and organic evolution are both examples of a single over-arching evolutionary algorithm, (4) a set of tools to comparatively study language over time, and (5) methods to materially improve text retrieval. by Michael Lloyd Best. Ph.D. 2005-09-27T20:01:04Z 2005-09-27T20:01:04Z 2000 2000 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9024 47799461 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 245 p. 15540731 bytes 15540487 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Architecture. Best, Michael Lloyd Microevolutionary language theory |
| title | Microevolutionary language theory |
| title_full | Microevolutionary language theory |
| title_fullStr | Microevolutionary language theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microevolutionary language theory |
| title_short | Microevolutionary language theory |
| title_sort | microevolutionary language theory |
| topic | Architecture. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9024 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bestmichaellloyd microevolutionarylanguagetheory |