Universals of word order reflect optimization of grammars for efficient communication

Michael Hahn · Dan Jurafsky · Richard Futrell

74 citations0/0 files storedProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation Language Development and Disorders Language and cultural evolution

Abstract

The universal properties of human languages have been the subject of intense study across the language sciences. We report computational and corpus evidence for the hypothesis that a prominent subset of these universal properties-those related to word order-result from a process of optimization for efficient communication among humans, trading off the need to reduce complexity with the need to reduce ambiguity. We formalize these two pressures with information-theoretic and neural-network models of complexity and ambiguity and simulate grammars with optimized word-order parameters on large-scale data from 51 languages. Evolution of grammars toward efficiency results in word-order patterns that predict a large subset of the major word-order correlations across languages.

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References

1949Human behavior and the principle of least effort 2002The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve?2006Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language 2004Cognitive Linguistics 1994The antisymmetry of syntax 1963Some Universals of Grammar with Particular Reference to the Order of Meaningful Elements 2005Three Factors in Language Design 1990Natural language and natural selection

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