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Statistical mechanical approach to human language

Author

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  • Kosmidis, Kosmas
  • Kalampokis, Alkiviadis
  • Argyrakis, Panos

Abstract

We use the formulation of equilibrium statistical mechanics in order to study some important characteristics of language. Using a simple expression for the Hamiltonian of a language system, which is directly implied by the Zipf law, we are able to explain several characteristic features of human language that seem completely unrelated, such as the universality of the Zipf exponent, the vocabulary size of children, the reduced communication abilities of people suffering from schizophrenia, etc. While several explanations are necessarily only qualitative at this stage, we have, nevertheless, been able to derive a formula for the vocabulary size of children as a function of age, which agrees rather well with experimental data.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosmidis, Kosmas & Kalampokis, Alkiviadis & Argyrakis, Panos, 2006. "Statistical mechanical approach to human language," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 366(C), pages 495-502.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:366:y:2006:i:c:p:495-502
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2005.10.039
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. An, Zhecheng & Pan, Qiuhui & Yu, Guangying & Wang, Zhen, 2012. "The spatial distribution of clusters and the formation of mixed languages in bilingual competition," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(20), pages 4943-4952.
    2. Hoyle, David C. & Brass, Andrew, 2016. "Statistical mechanics of ontology based annotations," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 442(C), pages 284-299.
    3. Rodriguez, E. & Aguilar-Cornejo, M. & Femat, R. & Alvarez-Ramirez, J., 2014. "Scale and time dependence of serial correlations in word-length time series of written texts," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 414(C), pages 378-386.

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