Languages as public goods and language change as a tragedy of the commons - Archive ouverte HAL
Book Sections Year : 2024

Languages as public goods and language change as a tragedy of the commons

Abstract

This paper makes three claims: first, that constructions in languages can be largely analyzed as public goods; second, that in cases where this is not true, they are common pool resources; and third, that in communication, there are systematic and intrinsic conflicts between speaker and hearer, such that in some cases, those conflicts will lead to a tragedy of the commons. It will be argued that at least some instances of language change can be seen as cases where short-term speaker interests impose costs on short-term hearer interests, and that in the long run, they also go against the best interests of speakers.
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hal-04752984 , version 1 (25-10-2024)

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Gerhard Schaden. Languages as public goods and language change as a tragedy of the commons. Enke, Dankmar W. (Editor), Hyman, Larry M. (Editor), Nichols, Johanna (Editor), Seiler, Guido (Editor), Weber, Thilo (Editor), Hölzl, Andreas (Editor). Language Change for the Worse, Language Science Press, 2024, 978-3-96110-317-1. ⟨10.5281/zenodo.13347678⟩. ⟨hal-04752984⟩
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