Abstract: Since the beginning of the 21st century, the method of complex networks has attracted more and more attention in the field of linguistics. The purpose of the research is to explore the common features and the individual characteristics of human languages. The research perspective has developed from the macroscopic description of the overall statistical characteristics of language networks to the microscopic investigation of the local characteristics of some central nodes of the network. In addition, more and more language networks are built based on real communication dynamic corpora, and linguistic theories and explanations are increasingly added to the research of language networks, which makes the research of language networks more practical and targeted.

Key words: language network, complex networks, research overview