A model for phonetic changes driven by social interactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a stochastic population model to analyze how social interactions influence phonetic changes, specifically in the place of articulation, with applications to Latin-derived words in Castilian and Romance languages.

Contribution

It develops a mathematical framework for phonetic evolution driven by social imitation, linking social dynamics to observable language change patterns.

Findings

Identification of three global states representing different phonetic patterns

Mathematical derivation of evolution equations for phonetic change

Application to Latin and Romance language phonetic shifts

Abstract

We propose a stochastic model to study phonetic changes as an evolutionary process driven by social interactions between two groups of individuals with different phonological systems. Particularly, we focus on the changes in the place of articulation, inspired by the drift /\textphi/$\rightarrow$/h/ observed in some words of Latin root in the Castilian language. In the model, each agent is characterized by a variable of three states, representing the place of articulation used during speech production. In this frame, we propose stochastic rules of interactions among agents which lead to phonetic imitation and consequently to changes in the articulation place. Based on this, we mathematically formalize the model as a problem of population dynamics, derive the equations of evolution in the mean field approximation, and study the emergence of three non--trivial global states, which can be linked to the pattern of phonetic changes observed in the language of Castile and in other Romance languages.