Computational and evolutionary aspects of language. Nowak, M. A, Komarova, N. L, & Niyogi, P. Nature, 417(6889):611-7, 2002.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
Language is our legacy. It is the main evolutionary contribution of humans, and perhaps the most interesting trait that has emerged in the past 500 million years. Understanding how darwinian evolution gives rise to human language requires the integration of formal language theory, learning theory and evolutionary dynamics. Formal language theory provides a mathematical description of language and grammar. Learning theory formalizes the task of language acquisition it can be shown that no procedure can learn an unrestricted set of languages. Universal grammar specifies the restricted set of languages learnable by the human brain. Evolutionary dynamics can be formulated to describe the cultural evolution of language and the biological evolution of universal grammar.
@Article{Nowak2002,
  author   = {Martin A Nowak and Natalia L Komarova and Partha Niyogi},
  journal  = {Nature},
  title    = {Computational and evolutionary aspects of language.},
  year     = {2002},
  number   = {6889},
  pages    = {611-7},
  volume   = {417},
  abstract = {Language is our legacy. It is the main evolutionary contribution of
	humans, and perhaps the most interesting trait that has emerged in
	the past 500 million years. Understanding how darwinian evolution
	gives rise to human language requires the integration of formal language
	theory, learning theory and evolutionary dynamics. Formal language
	theory provides a mathematical description of language and grammar.
	Learning theory formalizes the task of language acquisition it can
	be shown that no procedure can learn an unrestricted set of languages.
	Universal grammar specifies the restricted set of languages learnable
	by the human brain. Evolutionary dynamics can be formulated to describe
	the cultural evolution of language and the biological evolution of
	universal grammar.},
  doi      = {10.1038/nature00771},
  keywords = {Brain, Culture, Evolution, Human, Language, Learning, Linguistics, Models, Biological, Sound, Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., 12050656},
}

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