Compression and the origins of Zipf's law for word frequencies
Here we sketch a new derivation of Zipf's law for word frequencies based on optimal coding. The structure of the derivation is reminiscent of Mandelbrot's random typing model but it has multiple advantages over random typing: (1) it starts from realistic cognitive pressures, (2) it does no...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2016 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/100379 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/100379 https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cplx.21820 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Computational linguistics Zipf's law Compression Optimal coding Random typing Lingüística computacional Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Intel·ligència artificial::Llenguatge natural |
| Sumario: | Here we sketch a new derivation of Zipf's law for word frequencies based on optimal coding. The structure of the derivation is reminiscent of Mandelbrot's random typing model but it has multiple advantages over random typing: (1) it starts from realistic cognitive pressures, (2) it does not require fine tuning of parameters, and (3) it sheds light on the origins of other statistical laws of language and thus can lead to a compact theory of linguistic laws. Our findings suggest that the recurrence of Zipf's law in human languages could originate from pressure for easy and fast communication. |
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