Vowel System Sandbox: Complex System Modelling of Language Change

Abstract

Vowel System Sandbox is a complex agent-based modelling tool which is intended for linguists and speech researchers to test hypotheses about how vowel sounds are transmitted and used through the generations in a language community, and thus how vowel systems may change over generational time. Written in Python 3, the code repository is on Github and can be run in Linux, Windows 7+ and MacOS. This is the first software that provides a computational model of sound change in language by implementing first principles of speech perception and production. Funding statement: This project was partially funded by Provost awards for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity at Fresno State University.

Keywords

• language change
• agent-based modelling
• vowel systems
• complex systems
• Python