2021
Carrera-Casado, David; Ferrer-i-Cancho, Ramon
The advent and fall of a vocabulary learning bias from communicative efficiency Journal Article
In: Biosemiotics, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 345-375, 2021.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: child language, information theory
@article{Carrera2021a,
title = {The advent and fall of a vocabulary learning bias from communicative efficiency},
author = {David Carrera-Casado and Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.11519},
doi = {10.1007/s12304-021-09452-w},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Biosemiotics},
volume = {14},
number = {2},
pages = {345-375},
abstract = {It is well-known that, when sufficiently young children encounter a new word, they tend to attach it to a meaning that does not have a word yet in their lexicon. In previous research, the strategy was shown to be optimal from an information theoretic standpoint. However, the information theoretic model employed neither explains the weakening of that vocabulary learning bias in older children or polylinguals nor reproduces Zipf's meaning-frequency law, namely the non-linear relationship between the number of meanings of a word and its frequency. Here we consider a generalization of the model that is channeled to reproduce that law. The analysis of the new model reveals regions of the phase space where the bias disappears consistently with the weakening or loss of the bias in older children or polylinguals. In the deep learning era, the model is a transparent low-dimensional tool for future experimental research and illustrates the predictive power of a theoretical framework originally designed to shed light on the origins of Zipf's rank-frequency law.},
keywords = {child language, information theory},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
It is well-known that, when sufficiently young children encounter a new word, they tend to attach it to a meaning that does not have a word yet in their lexicon. In previous research, the strategy was shown to be optimal from an information theoretic standpoint. However, the information theoretic model employed neither explains the weakening of that vocabulary learning bias in older children or polylinguals nor reproduces Zipf's meaning-frequency law, namely the non-linear relationship between the number of meanings of a word and its frequency. Here we consider a generalization of the model that is channeled to reproduce that law. The analysis of the new model reveals regions of the phase space where the bias disappears consistently with the weakening or loss of the bias in older children or polylinguals. In the deep learning era, the model is a transparent low-dimensional tool for future experimental research and illustrates the predictive power of a theoretical framework originally designed to shed light on the origins of Zipf's rank-frequency law.
2018
Casas, B.; Català, N.; Ferrer-i-Cancho, R.; Hernández-Fernández, A.; Baixeries, J.
The polysemy of the words that children learn over time Journal Article
In: Interaction Studies, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 389 – 426, 2018.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: child language, vocabulary learning
@article{Casas2019a,
title = {The polysemy of the words that children learn over time},
author = {B. Casas and N. Català and R. Ferrer-i-Cancho and A. Hernández-Fernández and J. Baixeries},
doi = {10.1075/is.16036.cas},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Interaction Studies},
volume = {19},
number = {3},
pages = {389 – 426},
abstract = {Here we study polysemy as a potential learning bias in vocabulary learning in children. Words of low polysemy could be preferred as they reduce the disambiguation effort for the listener. However, such preference could be a side-effect of another bias: the preference of children for nouns in combination with the lower polysemy of nouns with respect to other part-of-speech categories.
Our results show that mean polysemy in children increases over time in two phases, i.e. a fast growth till the 31st month followed by a slower tendency towards adult speech. In contrast, this evolution is not found in adults interacting with children. This suggests that children have a preference for non-polysemous words in their early stages of vocabulary acquisition. Interestingly, the evolutionary pattern described above weakens when controlling for syntactic category (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) but it does not disappear completely, suggesting that it could result from a combination of a standalone bias for low polysemy and a preference for nouns.},
keywords = {child language, vocabulary learning},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Here we study polysemy as a potential learning bias in vocabulary learning in children. Words of low polysemy could be preferred as they reduce the disambiguation effort for the listener. However, such preference could be a side-effect of another bias: the preference of children for nouns in combination with the lower polysemy of nouns with respect to other part-of-speech categories.
Our results show that mean polysemy in children increases over time in two phases, i.e. a fast growth till the 31st month followed by a slower tendency towards adult speech. In contrast, this evolution is not found in adults interacting with children. This suggests that children have a preference for non-polysemous words in their early stages of vocabulary acquisition. Interestingly, the evolutionary pattern described above weakens when controlling for syntactic category (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) but it does not disappear completely, suggesting that it could result from a combination of a standalone bias for low polysemy and a preference for nouns.
Our results show that mean polysemy in children increases over time in two phases, i.e. a fast growth till the 31st month followed by a slower tendency towards adult speech. In contrast, this evolution is not found in adults interacting with children. This suggests that children have a preference for non-polysemous words in their early stages of vocabulary acquisition. Interestingly, the evolutionary pattern described above weakens when controlling for syntactic category (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) but it does not disappear completely, suggesting that it could result from a combination of a standalone bias for low polysemy and a preference for nouns.
2016
Hernández-Fernández, A.; Casas, B.; Ferrer-i-Cancho, R.; Baixeries, J.
Testing the robustness of laws of polysemy and brevity versus frequency Proceedings Article
In: Král, P.; Martín-Vide, C. (Ed.): 4th International Conference on Statistical Language and Speech Processing (SLSP 2016). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 9918, pp. 19–29, 2016.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: child language, Zipf's law of abbreviation, Zipf's meaning-frequency law
@inproceedings{Hernandez2016a,
title = {Testing the robustness of laws of polysemy and brevity versus frequency},
author = {A. Hernández-Fernández and B. Casas and R. Ferrer-i-Cancho and J. Baixeries},
editor = {P. Král and C. Martín-Vide},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-45925-7_2},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
booktitle = {4th International Conference on Statistical Language and Speech Processing (SLSP 2016). Lecture Notes in Computer Science 9918},
pages = {19–29},
abstract = {The pioneering research of G.K. Zipf on the relationship between word frequency and other word features led to the formulation of various linguistic laws. Here we focus on a couple of them: the meaning-frequency law, i.e. the tendency of more frequent words to be more polysemous, and the law of abbreviation, i.e. the tendency of more frequent words to be shorter. Here we evaluate the robustness of these laws in contexts where they have not been explored yet to our knowledge. The recovery of the laws again in new conditions provides support for the hypothesis that they originate from abstract mechanisms.},
keywords = {child language, Zipf's law of abbreviation, Zipf's meaning-frequency law},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The pioneering research of G.K. Zipf on the relationship between word frequency and other word features led to the formulation of various linguistic laws. Here we focus on a couple of them: the meaning-frequency law, i.e. the tendency of more frequent words to be more polysemous, and the law of abbreviation, i.e. the tendency of more frequent words to be shorter. Here we evaluate the robustness of these laws in contexts where they have not been explored yet to our knowledge. The recovery of the laws again in new conditions provides support for the hypothesis that they originate from abstract mechanisms.
2013
Baixeries, J.; Elvevåg, B.; Ferrer-i-Cancho, R.
The evolution of the exponent of Zipf's law in language ontogeny Journal Article
In: PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. e53227, 2013.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: child language, vocabulary learning, Zipf's law for word frequencies
@article{Baixeries2012c,
title = {The evolution of the exponent of Zipf's law in language ontogeny},
author = {J. Baixeries and B. Elvevåg and R. Ferrer-i-Cancho},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0053227},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-01-01},
journal = {PLoS ONE},
volume = {8},
number = {3},
pages = {e53227},
abstract = {It is well-known that word frequencies arrange themselves according to Zipf's law. However, little is known about the dependency of the parameters of the law and the complexity of a communication system. Many models of the evolution of language assume that the exponent of the law remains constant as the complexity of a communication systems increases. Using longitudinal studies of child language, we analysed the word rank distribution for the speech of children and adults participating in conversations. The adults typically included family members (e.g., parents) or the investigators conducting the research. Our analysis of the evolution of Zipf's law yields two main unexpected results. First, in children the exponent of the law tends to decrease over time while this tendency is weaker in adults, thus suggesting this is not a mere mirror effect of adult speech. Second, although the exponent of the law is more stable in adults, their exponents fall below 1 which is the typical value of the exponent assumed in both children and adults. Our analysis also shows a tendency of the mean length of utterances (MLU), a simple estimate of syntactic complexity, to increase as the exponent decreases. The parallel evolution of the exponent and a simple indicator of syntactic complexity (MLU) supports the hypothesis that the exponent of Zipf's law and linguistic complexity are inter-related. The assumption that Zipf's law for word ranks is a power-law with a constant exponent of one in both adults and children needs to be revised.},
keywords = {child language, vocabulary learning, Zipf's law for word frequencies},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
It is well-known that word frequencies arrange themselves according to Zipf's law. However, little is known about the dependency of the parameters of the law and the complexity of a communication system. Many models of the evolution of language assume that the exponent of the law remains constant as the complexity of a communication systems increases. Using longitudinal studies of child language, we analysed the word rank distribution for the speech of children and adults participating in conversations. The adults typically included family members (e.g., parents) or the investigators conducting the research. Our analysis of the evolution of Zipf's law yields two main unexpected results. First, in children the exponent of the law tends to decrease over time while this tendency is weaker in adults, thus suggesting this is not a mere mirror effect of adult speech. Second, although the exponent of the law is more stable in adults, their exponents fall below 1 which is the typical value of the exponent assumed in both children and adults. Our analysis also shows a tendency of the mean length of utterances (MLU), a simple estimate of syntactic complexity, to increase as the exponent decreases. The parallel evolution of the exponent and a simple indicator of syntactic complexity (MLU) supports the hypothesis that the exponent of Zipf's law and linguistic complexity are inter-related. The assumption that Zipf's law for word ranks is a power-law with a constant exponent of one in both adults and children needs to be revised.
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