Linguistic structure emerges through the interaction of memory constraints and communicative pressures
- PMID: 27562423
- DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X15000874
Linguistic structure emerges through the interaction of memory constraints and communicative pressures
Abstract
If memory constraints were the only limitation on language processing, the best possible language would be one with only one word. But to explain the rich structure of language, we need to posit a second constraint: the pressure to communicate informatively. Many aspects of linguistic structure can be accounted for by appealing to equilibria that result from these two pressures.
Comment in
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Squeezing through the Now-or-Never bottleneck: Reconnecting language processing, acquisition, change, and structure.Behav Brain Sci. 2016 Jan;39:e91. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X15001235. Behav Brain Sci. 2016. PMID: 27561252
Comment on
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The Now-or-Never bottleneck: A fundamental constraint on language.Behav Brain Sci. 2016 Jan;39:e62. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X1500031X. Epub 2015 Apr 14. Behav Brain Sci. 2016. PMID: 25869618
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