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Word lengths are optimized for efficient communication.

ABSTRACT: We demonstrate a substantial improvement on one of the most celebrated empirical laws in the study of language, Zipf's 75-y-old theory that word length is primarily determined by frequency of use. In accord with rational theories of communication, we show across 10 languages that average information content is a much better predictor of word length than frequency. This indicates that human lexicons are efficiently structured for communication by taking into account interword statistical dependencies. Lexical systems result from an optimization of communicative pressures, coding meanings efficiently given the complex statistics of natural language use.

SUBMITTER: Piantadosi ST

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3048148 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Word lengths are optimized for efficient communication.

Piantadosi Steven T ST Tily Harry H Gibson Edward E

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110128 9

We demonstrate a substantial improvement on one of the most celebrated empirical laws in the study of language, Zipf's 75-y-old theory that word length is primarily determined by frequency of use. In accord with rational theories of communication, we show across 10 languages that average information content is a much better predictor of word length than frequency. This indicates that human lexicons are efficiently structured for communication by taking into account interword statistical dependen ...[more]

PMID: 21278332

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