학술논문
Complexity trade-offs and equi-complexity in natural languages: a meta-analysis.
Document Type
Academic Journal
Author
Bentz C; Department of General Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.; Gutierrez-Vasques X; URPP Language and Space, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.; Sozinova O; URPP Language and Space, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.; Samardžić T; URPP Language and Space, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Source
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 101660926 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 2199-174X (Print) NLM ISO Abbreviation: Linguist Vanguard Subsets: PubMed not MEDLINE
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
2199-174X
Abstract
In linguistics, there is little consensus on how to define, measure, and compare complexity across languages. We propose to take the diversity of viewpoints as a given, and to capture the complexity of a language by a vector of measurements, rather than a single value. We then assess the statistical support for two controversial hypotheses: the trade-off hypothesis and the equi-complexity hypothesis. We furnish meta-analyses of 28 complexity metrics applied to texts written in overall 80 typologically diverse languages. The trade-off hypothesis is partially supported, in the sense that around one third of the significant correlations between measures are negative. The equi-complexity hypothesis, on the other hand, is largely confirmed. While we find evidence for complexity differences in the domains of morphology and syntax, the overall complexity vectors of languages turn out virtually indistinguishable.
(© 2022 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.)
(© 2022 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.)