Linguistic Diversity in the Very Long Run

Abstract

The emergence of language is one of the defining events of the human race. The subsequent development and evolution of languages, over the long sweep of history, reflect political, military, cultural, social, and economic forces. The current paper offers a highly parsimonious theoretical explanation of the endogenous creation and destruction of distinct languages, focusing purely on the interaction of economic and linguistic forces. Specifically, the paper presents an endogenous growth model in which language is an engine of growth: agents who can communicate easily are able to produce and consume more. At the same time, economic interaction among agents affects the evolution of language com..