Change on every scale: (Bayesian) models of meaning development in children and societies

Abstract

Language is deeply rooted in the human cognitive system, and analyzing the patterns that underly language change can enhance our understanding of human cognitive development. This talk will present cognitively motivated models of semantic shift on different scales: We will start by exploring the incremental acquisition of semantic categories in children, and then move to society-level phenomena of word meaning change and novel word formation. If time permits, I will relate questions of semantic shift to my (other) research focus on media bias and media frames, and their differential effects on varying audience groups.