TY - JOUR
T1 - Language is a super-attractor
T2 - Does it evolve through subjective selection?
AU - Heintz, Christophe Frédéric
AU - Nettle, Daniel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2026/7/10
Y1 - 2026/7/10
N2 - Language exemplifies Singh’s super-attractor concept while testing the explanatory limits of subjective selection, which is just one of the processes of cultural evolution. Subjective selection explains many linguistic features through speakers’ instrumental goals. However, other types of processes also shape language evolution: some, related to learning and perception, for instance, will not involve intentions or conscious selection. Others involve intentionally creating and transforming linguistic constructions rather than merely selecting them from random mutations.
AB - Language exemplifies Singh’s super-attractor concept while testing the explanatory limits of subjective selection, which is just one of the processes of cultural evolution. Subjective selection explains many linguistic features through speakers’ instrumental goals. However, other types of processes also shape language evolution: some, related to learning and perception, for instance, will not involve intentions or conscious selection. Others involve intentionally creating and transforming linguistic constructions rather than merely selecting them from random mutations.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045225496
U2 - 10.1017/S0140525X25104445
DO - 10.1017/S0140525X25104445
M3 - Article
SN - 0140-525X
VL - 49
JO - Behavioral and Brain Sciences
JF - Behavioral and Brain Sciences
M1 - e296
ER -