Indefinite Pronouns Optimize the Simplicity/Informativeness Trade-Off

Autor/inn/en	Denic, Milica; Steinert-Threlkeld, Shane; Szymanik, Jakub
Titel	Indefinite Pronouns Optimize the Simplicity/Informativeness Trade-Off
Quelle	In: Cognitive Science, 46 (2022) 5, (26 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1551-6709
DOI	10.1111/cogs.13142
Schlagwörter	Form Classes (Languages); Vocabulary; Semantics; Linguistics; Linguistic Theory; Language Universals + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Analytischer Sprachbau; Wortschatz; Semantik; Linguistik; Linguistische Theorie
Abstract	The vocabulary of human languages has been argued to support efficient communication by optimizing the trade-off between simplicity and informativeness. The argument has been originally based on cross-linguistic analyses of vocabulary in semantic domains of content words, such as kinship, color, and number terms. The present work applies this analysis to a category of function words: indefinite pronouns (e.g., "someone," "anyone," "no one"). We build on previous work to establish the meaning space and featural make-up for indefinite pronouns, and show that indefinite pronoun systems across languages optimize the simplicity/informativeness trade-off. This demonstrates that pressures for efficient communication shape both content and function word categories. In doing so, our work aligns with several concurrent studies exploring the simplicity/informativeness trade-off in functional vocabulary. Importantly, we further argue that the trade-off may explain some of the universal properties of indefinite pronouns, thus reducing the explanatory load for linguistic theories. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01