Open AccessThe Phonological Latching Network
Author(s) -
Joe Stephen Bratsvedal Collins
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
biolinguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1450-3417
DOI - 10.5964/bioling.9159
Subject(s) - sonority hierarchy , phonology , computer science , natural (archaeology) , artificial neural network , attractor , feature (linguistics) , phonological rule , natural language , artificial intelligence , natural language processing , linguistics , cognitive science , psychology , history , mathematics , philosophy , mathematical analysis , archaeology
This paper gives an analysis of an attractor neural network model dubbed the Phonological Latching Network. The model appears to reproduce certain quintessentially phonological phenomena, despite not having any of these phonological behaviours programmed or taught to the model. Rather, assimilation, segmental-OCP, and sonority sequencing appear to emerge spontaneously from the combination of a few basic brain-like ingredients with a phonology-like feature system. The significance of this can be interpreted from two angles: firstly, the fact that the model spontaneously produces attested natural language patterns can be taken as evidence of the model’s neural and psychological plausibility; and secondly, it provides a potential explanation for why these patters appear to frequently in natural language grammars. Namely, they are a consequence of latching dynamics in the brain.