Frequency of word-use predicts rates of lexical evolution throughout Indo-European history

Mark Pagel (), Quentin D. Atkinson and Andrew Meade
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Mark Pagel: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK
Quentin D. Atkinson: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK
Andrew Meade: School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AS, UK

Nature, 2007, vol. 449, issue 7163, 717-720

Abstract: Words on the brink As a language evolves, grammatical rules emerge and exceptions die out. Lieberman et al. have calculated the rate at which a language grows more regular, based on 1,200 years of English usage. Of 177 irregular verbs, 79 became regular in the last millennium. And the trend follows a simple rule: a verb's half-life scales as the square root of its frequency. Irregular verbs that are 100 times as rare regularize 10 times faster. The emergence of a rule (such as adding –ed for the past tense) spells death for exceptional forms. The cover graphic makes the point: verb size corresponds to usage frequency, so large verbs stay at the top, and small verbs fall to the bottom. 'Wed', the next irregular verb to go, is on the brink. In a separate study, Pagel et al. looked at changing word meanings. Across the Indo-European languages, words like 'tail' or 'bird' evolve rapidly and are expressed by many unrelated words. Others, like 'two', are expressed by closely related word forms across the whole language family. Data from over 80 modern languages show that the more a word is used, the less it changes.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06176

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