Abstract

We investigate the evolution of competing languages, a subject where much previous literature suggests that the outcome is always the domination of one language over all the others. Since coexistence of languages is observed in reality, we here revisit the question of language competition, with an emphasis on uncovering the ways in which coexistence might emerge. We find that this emergence is related to symmetry breaking, and explore two particular scenarios – the first relating to an imbalance in the population dynamics of language speakers in a single geographical area, and the second to do with spatial heterogeneity, where language preferences are specific to different geographical regions. For each of these, the investigation of paradigmatic situations leads us to a quantitative understanding of the conditions leading to language coexistence. We also obtain predictions of the number of surviving languages as a function of various model parameters.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

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论竞争语言的共存

摘要

我们调查了竞争性语言的演变，该学科以前的文献都认为，结果始终是一种语言对所有其他语言的统治。由于实际上观察到了语言的共存，因此在此我们重新审视语言竞争的问题，重点是揭示可能出现共存的方式。我们发现这种现象与对称性的破坏有关，并探讨了两种特定的情况–第一种情况涉及单个地理区域内说语言的人的人口动态失衡，第二种情况涉及语言偏好特定的空间异质性到不同的地理区域。对于每种情况，对范式情境的研究使我们对导致语言共存的条件有了定量的了解。

图形概要