Competition of Languages and their Hamming Distance

Abstract

We consider the spreading and competition of languages that are spoken by a population of individuals. The individuals can change their mother tongue during their lifespan, pass on their language to their offspring and finally die. The languages are described by bitstrings, their mutual difference is expressed in terms of their Hamming distance. Language evolution is determined by mutation and adaptation rates. In particular we consider the case where the replacement of a language by another one is determined by their mutual Hamming distance. As a function of the mutation rate we find a sharp transition between a scenario with one dominant language and fragmentation into many language clusters. The transition is also reflected in the Hamming distance between the two languages with the largest and second to largest number of speakers. We also consider the case where the population is localized on a square lattice and the interaction of individuals is restricted to a certain geometrical domain. Here it is again the Hamming distance that plays an essential role in the final fate of a language of either surviving or being extinct.