Memory limitations are hidden in grammar
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11320%2F22%3AW859L5IU" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11320/22:W859L5IU - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://glottometrics.iqla.org/397-memory-limitations-are-hidden-in-grammar/" target="_blank" >https://glottometrics.iqla.org/397-memory-limitations-are-hidden-in-grammar/</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.53482/2022_52_397" target="_blank" >10.53482/2022_52_397</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Memory limitations are hidden in grammar
Original language description
The ability to produce and understand an unlimited number of different sentences is a hallmark of human language. Linguists have sought to define the essence of this generative capacity using formal grammars that describe the syntactic dependencies between constituents, independent of the computational limitations of the human brain. Here, we evaluate this independence assumption by sampling sentences uniformly from the space of possible syntactic structures. We find that the average dependency distance between syntactically related words, a proxy for memory limitations, is less than expected by chance in a collection of state-of-the-art classes of dependency grammars. Our findings indicate that memory limitations have permeated grammatical descriptions, suggesting that it may be impossible to build a parsimonious theory of human linguistic productivity independent of non-linguistic cognitive constraints.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10201 - Computer sciences, information science, bioinformathics (hardware development to be 2.2, social aspect to be 5.8)
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
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Others
Publication year
2022
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Glottometrics
ISSN
2625-8226
e-ISSN
1099-1263
Volume of the periodical
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Issue of the periodical within the volume
52
Country of publishing house
US - UNITED STATES
Number of pages
26
Pages from-to
39-64
UT code for WoS article
000828871700003
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85134841751