The Physics of Language: Toward a Phase Transition of Language Change

The research reported in this work treats language as a physical system, subject to the same forces as other systems describable in physical terms. Moreover, the language of mechanical transformations, such as first-order phase transitions, is directly applicable to such fundamental structural changes in language.When it is borne in mind that the process of grammaticalization is itself evolved, it becomes evident further that such physical phenomena, as first-order phase transitions, could explain the emergence of grammaticalization itself, and therefore the original advent of syntax.This specific sample involves instances of perceptually bound lexical vocabulary that acquire a function of perceptually divorced uses - such as connectives, but also mental, religious and ethical vocabulary. This definition of functionalization includes, but is not bound, by the notion of grammaticalization and as such departs from its traditional linguistic use. Convenience motivated the choice of this vocabulary because it lends itself more readily to reform than does the more entrenched notion of grammaticalization.