Quantitative relationships between how frequently a word is used and how rapidly it changes over time raise intriguing questions about the way individual behaviours determine large-scale linguistic and cultural change.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Chomsky, N. Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin, and Use (Praeger, Westport, CT, 1986).
Hurford, J. in Logical Issues in Language Acquisition (ed. Roca, I. M.) 85–136 (Foris, Dordrecht, 1990).
Lieberman, E., Michel, J.–B., Jackson, J., Tang, T. & Nowak, M. A. Nature 449, 713–716 (2007).
Pagel, M., Atkinson, Q. D. & Meade, A. Nature 449, 717–720 (2007).
Bybee, J. & Hopper, P. (eds) Frequency and the Emergence of Linguistic Structure (Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2001).
Zipf, G. K. Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort (Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, MA, 1949).
Heine, B., Claudi, U. & Hünnemeyer, F. Grammaticalization: A Conceptual Framework (Univ. Chicago Press, 1991).
Keller, R. On Language Change: The Invisible Hand in Language (Routledge, New York, 1994).
Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. Culture and the Evolutionary Process (Univ. Chicago Press, 1985).
Kalish, M. L., Griffiths, T. L. & Lewandowsky, S. Psychonom. Bull. Rev. 14, 288–294 (2007).
McElreath, R. et al. Evol. Hum. Behav. 26, 483–508 (2005).
Kirby, S., Dowman, M. & Griffiths, T. L. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 5241–5245 (2007).
Deacon, T. W. The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain (Norton, New York, 1997).
Dawkins, R. The Selfish Gene (Oxford Univ. Press, 1976).
Dennett, D. C. Darwin's Dangerous Idea (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1995).
Blackmore, S. J. The Meme Machine (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000).
Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A. & Laland, K. N. Evolution 58, 1–11 (2004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fitch, W. An invisible hand. Nature 449, 665–667 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/449665a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/449665a
This article is cited by
-
Language lessons
Nature Ecology & Evolution (2018)
-
Denoting Offence
Cognitive Computation (2014)
-
From Communication Signals to Human Language and Thought: Evolution or Revolution?
Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology (2009)
-
Correction
Nature (2007)