Language change is a cultural evolutionary process in which variants of linguistic variables change in frequency through processes analogous to mutation, selection and genetic drift. In this work, we apply a recently-introduced method to corpus data to quantify the strength of selection in specific instances of historical language change. We first demonstrate, in the context of English irregular verbs, that this method is more reliable and interpretable than similar methods that have previously been applied. We further extend this study to demonstrate that a bias towards phonological simplicity overrides that favouring grammatical simplicity when these are in conflict. Finally, with reference to Spanish spelling reforms, we show that the method can also detect points in time at which selection strengths change, a feature that is generically expected for socially-motivated language change. Together, these results indicate how hypotheses for mechanisms of language change can be tested quantitatively using historical corpus data.

翻译：语言变化是一种文化进化过程，其中语言变量的变体通过类似于突变、选择和遗传漂变的机制改变其频率。在本研究中，我们应用一种近期提出的方法，对语料库数据进行分析，以量化历史语言变化中特定实例的选择强度。首先，以英语不规则动词为例，我们证明该方法相较于先前应用的类似方法更为可靠且更具可解释性。其次，我们进一步扩展研究，证明在语音简洁性与语法简洁性冲突时，对语音简洁性的偏好会压倒对语法简洁性的偏好。最后，参照西班牙语拼写改革，我们表明该方法还能检测选择强度发生变化的时间点，这一特征通常在社会驱动的语言变化中可预期。综合这些结果，展示了如何利用历史语料库数据对语言变化机制的假设进行定量检验。