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The emergence of duality of patterning: Insights from the laboratory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2014

Gareth Roberts  and
Bruno Galantucci
Gareth Roberts
Affiliation:
Yeshiva University
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Abstract

The concept of duality of patterning (henceforth DP) has recently begun to undergo new scrutiny. In particular, the fact that Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL) does not appear to exhibit a layer of meaningless units (Sandler et al. 2011) casts doubt on the universality of DP as a defining feature of natural language. Why, then, do the vast majority of the world's languages exhibit DP? Two hypotheses have been suggested. The first is that DP is a necessary solution to the problem of conveying a large number of meanings; the second is that DP arises as a consequence of conventionalization. We tested these hypotheses in an experimental-semiotics study. Our results supported the hypothesis based on conventionalization but were inconclusive with regard to the hypothesis based on the number of meanings. At the same time, the task of measuring DP in an experimental-semiotics study presented interesting challenges, suggesting that the concept of DP may need some overhauling.

Keywords

dialogueduality of patterningemergence of phonologyexperimental semioticshuman communicationsign languagesocial cognition
Type
Research Article
Information
Language and Cognition , Volume 4 , Special Issue 4: New perspectives on duality of patterning , December 2012 , pp. 297 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © UK Cognitive Linguistics Association 2012

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