What has evolved in the hominin lineage is a system of thought and talk that is spectacularly dynamic, ever-changing in its own mode of what we call linguistic evolution. A major drive behind this continued diversification process is the human desire for markers of group identity, a sense of belonging that has powerful psychological consequences in facilitating trust and cooperation. Change is constrained again by the maximum state space of the language faculty and by universal learning and processing mechanisms. Typically, change originates through error or choice — often motivated by contact with other languages — chiefly among adolescents and adults. When the change spreads enough to shift the probability distributions from which children learn, it results in linguistic evolution. 

In the Diversification Project we tackle the change and learning (spread) processes in adults, through the work packages (WP) Diversity Conditions, Diversity Functions and Stationarity.