{"title":"How does language evolve as a multi-level system? A quantitative exploration of written Chinese","authors":"Heng Chen, Yaqin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.langsci.2023.101554","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Hierarchy has been described as the backbone of a language system. However, how language evolves as a multi-level system has not been explored quantitatively based on authentic language materials. The Menzerath–Altmann law (MAL) is a statistical linguistic universal that can capture the complex relationships between language units at neighboring levels. Using the MAL, the present study explored the evolution of two regularly examined partial hierarchies in written Chinese, i.e., “clause-word-character” and “sentence-clause-word” across five periods of two millennia. The results indicate that the hierarchy in the Pre-Qin Period (Period 1) is quite different from the others since its linguistic units of character and word overlap to some extent. The two partial hierarchies show opposite evolutionary trends in the following four periods. The hierarchy fades at the “clause-word-character” levels. Nevertheless, it increases significantly at the “sentence-clause-word” levels. The evolutions are accompanied by a constant increase in word length and accelerated growth in clause length and sentence length/complexity. The findings are finally explained from the perspective of the Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51592,"journal":{"name":"Language Sciences","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 101554"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Language Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0388000123000190","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Hierarchy has been described as the backbone of a language system. However, how language evolves as a multi-level system has not been explored quantitatively based on authentic language materials. The Menzerath–Altmann law (MAL) is a statistical linguistic universal that can capture the complex relationships between language units at neighboring levels. Using the MAL, the present study explored the evolution of two regularly examined partial hierarchies in written Chinese, i.e., “clause-word-character” and “sentence-clause-word” across five periods of two millennia. The results indicate that the hierarchy in the Pre-Qin Period (Period 1) is quite different from the others since its linguistic units of character and word overlap to some extent. The two partial hierarchies show opposite evolutionary trends in the following four periods. The hierarchy fades at the “clause-word-character” levels. Nevertheless, it increases significantly at the “sentence-clause-word” levels. The evolutions are accompanied by a constant increase in word length and accelerated growth in clause length and sentence length/complexity. The findings are finally explained from the perspective of the Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory.
期刊介绍:
Language Sciences is a forum for debate, conducted so as to be of interest to the widest possible audience, on conceptual and theoretical issues in the various branches of general linguistics. The journal is also concerned with bringing to linguists attention current thinking about language within disciplines other than linguistics itself; relevant contributions from anthropologists, philosophers, psychologists and sociologists, among others, will be warmly received. In addition, the Editor is particularly keen to encourage the submission of essays on topics in the history and philosophy of language studies, and review articles discussing the import of significant recent works on language and linguistics.