Abstract
Based on a quantitative study of the evolution of homophones in English, we present an argument about why homophones occur. Zipf’s law, which states that word frequency decreases as a power law of its rank, can be seen as the outcome of form-meaning associations, adopted in order to comply with listener and speaker needs. This implies that one form can correspond
to many meanings (i.e., polysemy and homophony). We argue that
homophony is a desirable feature in communication systems, is stable, and
increases through time. When a large number of homophones emerge,
however, an impetus to avoid homophones comes into play. We suggest that
the evolution of diatones is a case of the avoidance of homophony. Related
to this, we examine the neural substrates of bisyllabic noun-verb homophones, using near-infrared spectroscopy. We show that noun and verb
categories are represented in different neural substrates in the left
hemisphere, and relate this to our historical data, explaining why the
actuation of diatone-formation was connected with production in frequent
homophones in the 16th century, but was connected with perception in
infrequent words after the 17th century.
to many meanings (i.e., polysemy and homophony). We argue that
homophony is a desirable feature in communication systems, is stable, and
increases through time. When a large number of homophones emerge,
however, an impetus to avoid homophones comes into play. We suggest that
the evolution of diatones is a case of the avoidance of homophony. Related
to this, we examine the neural substrates of bisyllabic noun-verb homophones, using near-infrared spectroscopy. We show that noun and verb
categories are represented in different neural substrates in the left
hemisphere, and relate this to our historical data, explaining why the
actuation of diatone-formation was connected with production in frequent
homophones in the 16th century, but was connected with perception in
infrequent words after the 17th century.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | English Historical Linguistics: Change in Structure and Meaning |
| Subtitle of host publication | Papers from the XXth ICEHL |
| Editors | Bettelou Los, Claire Cowie, Patrick Honeybone, Graeme Trousdale |
| Publisher | John Benjamins |
| Chapter | 3 |
| Pages | 62-90 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9789027258205 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789027210647 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Feb 2022 |
Publication series
| Name | Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |
|---|---|
| Publisher | John Benjamins |
| Volume | 358 |
Keywords
- linguistic evolution
- homophones
- ambiguity
- Zipf’s law
- word frequency
- diatones
- neural substrates