BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-12-15DOI: 10.5964/bioling.13153
Roni Katzir
{"title":"Why large language models are poor theories of human linguistic cognition: A reply to Piantadosi","authors":"Roni Katzir","doi":"10.5964/bioling.13153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.13153","url":null,"abstract":"In a recent manuscript entitled “Modern language models refute Chomsky’s approach to language”, Steven Piantadosi proposes that large language models such as GPT-3 can serve as serious theories of human linguistic cognition. In fact, he maintains that these models are significantly better linguistic theories than proposals emerging from within generative linguistics. The present note explains why this claim is wrong.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"332 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138996659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-12-06DOI: 10.5964/bioling.12787
Daiki Matsumoto
{"title":"Social evolution and commitment: Bridging the gap between formal linguistic theories and language evolution research","authors":"Daiki Matsumoto","doi":"10.5964/bioling.12787","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.12787","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues based on some concrete empirical evidence that what is called “(social) commitment” is grammaticalized in human language at the latest stage in the evolution of syntax. It is further argued that as a result of this grammaticalization process, our ancestors acquired a way of making their linguistic communication sufficiently trustable/reliable, by encoding the signaler’s liability to the truthfulness of what is communicated. That is, the presence of commitment as a concrete grammatical element provided our species with a way of (indirectly) solving the problem of dishonesty of linguistic signals. The proposal is made in such a way that its validity can be tested by experimental means, and hence it is hoped that the model presented in this article facilitates important collaborative works among theoretical linguists, (evolutionary) biologists, and other experimentalists. Overall, the idea laid out here aims to bridge the gap between formal linguistics and language evolution studies.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"50 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138597762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-10-31DOI: 10.5964/bioling.13067
Elliot Murphy
{"title":"A future without a past: Philosophical consequences of Merge","authors":"Elliot Murphy","doi":"10.5964/bioling.13067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.13067","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"178 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135872790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-10-24DOI: 10.5964/bioling.12859
Hans-Martin Gärtner
{"title":"Eademne sunt?","authors":"Hans-Martin Gärtner","doi":"10.5964/bioling.12859","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.12859","url":null,"abstract":"<p xmlns=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/JATS1\">This paper is a reaction to Watumull and Roberts (2023, https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.12393).","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"34 6","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135267086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.5964/bioling.12561
Koji Hoshi
{"title":"Reconceptualizing merge in search for the link with brain oscillatory nature of language in biolinguistics","authors":"Koji Hoshi","doi":"10.5964/bioling.12561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.12561","url":null,"abstract":"<p xmlns=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/JATS1\">This brief piece argues that it is desirable to reconceptualize the syntactic combinatorial mechanism Merge as a higher-order function that takes two functions (= a selector function and its ‘argument’ function) and yields a composite function in the context of I-language. On this functional characterization of Merge, all of the elements involved in Merge are conceived as functions as well: lexical items (LIs) as input of Merge and syntactic objects (SOs) as both input and output of Merge. It is claimed that this perspective of Merge is a bridging step toward further facilitating the mesoscopic-level (= dynome-level) investigation of the brain oscillatory nature of human language in the field of biolinguistics. In this framework, I make the case that it would be possible to analyze the brain oscillatory nature of Merge by appealing to the mathematical operation of the Fourier transform (FT) to the extent that Merge-related brain oscillations as physical waves can be captured by complex exponential functions/trigonometric functions in the temporal domain.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135970155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-10-12DOI: 10.5964/bioling.12651
Koji Hoshi
{"title":"Reconceptualizing merge in search for the link with brain oscillatory nature of language in biolinguistics","authors":"Koji Hoshi","doi":"10.5964/bioling.12651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.12651","url":null,"abstract":"<p xmlns=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/JATS1\">This brief piece argues that it is desirable to reconceptualize the syntactic combinatorial mechanism Merge as a higher-order function that takes two functions (= a selector function and its ‘argument’ function) and yields a composite function in the context of I-language. On this functional characterization of Merge, all of the elements involved in Merge are conceived as functions as well: lexical items (LIs) as input of Merge and syntactic objects (SOs) as both input and output of Merge. It is claimed that this perspective of Merge is a bridging step toward further facilitating the mesoscopic-level (= dynome-level) investigation of the brain oscillatory nature of human language in the field of biolinguistics. In this framework, I make the case that it would be possible to analyze the brain oscillatory nature of Merge by appealing to the mathematical operation of the Fourier transform (FT) to the extent that Merge-related brain oscillations as physical waves can be captured by complex exponential functions/trigonometric functions in the temporal domain.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135967765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-09-06DOI: 10.5964/bioling.11911
Dieter G. Hillert, Koji Fujita
{"title":"Pragmatic grammar in genus homo","authors":"Dieter G. Hillert, Koji Fujita","doi":"10.5964/bioling.11911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.11911","url":null,"abstract":"The question of how humans got language is crucial for understanding the uniqueness of the human mind and the cognitive resources and processes shared with nonhuman species. We discuss the origin of symbolic elements in hominins and how a pragmatic grammar emerged from action-based event-structures. In the context of comparative neurobiological findings, we report support for the global workspace hypothesis and social brain hypothesis. In addition, reverse linguistic analysis informs us about the particular role of a pragmatic grammar stage. We assume that this stage was associated with changes to the hominin genotype. Homo erectus may have used a pragmatic grammar which consisted of two or three symbolic elements. Extended syntax and morphology, including hierarchical branching, are not based on genotype changes but may reflect cultural accumulations related to socioecological adaptations. We conclude that the biological capacity for language may have emerged already 1.8 million years ago with the appearance of genus Homo.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42975282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-08-11DOI: 10.5964/bioling.12393
J. Watumull, I. Roberts
{"title":"Rebuttal to \"Merge is not 'lerge'\"","authors":"J. Watumull, I. Roberts","doi":"10.5964/bioling.12393","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.12393","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper is a rebuttal to Gärtner (2023, https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.11715).","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46380527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiolinguisticsPub Date : 2023-07-27DOI: 10.5964/bioling.11715
Hans-Martin Gärtner
{"title":"Merge vs. \"Lerge:\" Problems of association","authors":"Hans-Martin Gärtner","doi":"10.5964/bioling.11715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5964/bioling.11715","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 It is shown that the proposal of identifying Merge and the Leibnizian addition operator runs up against the obstacle that the latter is associative while the former is not. The confound is attributed to insufficient appreciation of the difference between a calculus for natural language syntax and a calculus of concepts.","PeriodicalId":54041,"journal":{"name":"Biolinguistics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49624006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}