Projektnummer

0065196

Zusammenfassung

The present project gauges the applicability and utility of physical-mathematical models for addressing theoretical questions in sociolinguistics. Specifically, the project engages two case studies: a) modelling of incipient sociolinguistic innovations (the actuation problem; Weinreich et al. 1968) by means of statistical-physics models of aggregation and gelation, and b) the application of stochastic Lévy processes for analyzing translocal diffusion of linguistic features. The project on the one hand connects to recent theoretical developments in linguistics, which view language as a ...