On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory
Markedness is commonly regarded as one of the fundamental organizing principles of human language. However, the reasons for the existence of markedness phenomena continue to be controversial, if not to say obscure. The analysis of discourse corpora from three genetically unrelated languages which is...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Caen
2009-12-01
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| Series: | Discours |
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| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/discours/7683 |
| _version_ | 1818757892132569088 |
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| author | Regina Pustet |
| author_facet | Regina Pustet |
| author_sort | Regina Pustet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Markedness is commonly regarded as one of the fundamental organizing principles of human language. However, the reasons for the existence of markedness phenomena continue to be controversial, if not to say obscure. The analysis of discourse corpora from three genetically unrelated languages which is conducted in this study suggests that at least one of the decisive aspects of markedness, namely, the correlation between frequency and structural complexity, can be understood as a necessary consequence of the general statistical regularities disclosed in Zipf's discourse-based model of language. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:18:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a937d88d95e4cafbadbda88f1bda76c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1963-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:18:09Z |
| publishDate | 2009-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Caen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discours |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a937d88d95e4cafbadbda88f1bda76c2022-12-21T21:18:11ZengPresses universitaires de CaenDiscours1963-17232009-12-01510.4000/discours.7683On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theoryRegina PustetMarkedness is commonly regarded as one of the fundamental organizing principles of human language. However, the reasons for the existence of markedness phenomena continue to be controversial, if not to say obscure. The analysis of discourse corpora from three genetically unrelated languages which is conducted in this study suggests that at least one of the decisive aspects of markedness, namely, the correlation between frequency and structural complexity, can be understood as a necessary consequence of the general statistical regularities disclosed in Zipf's discourse-based model of language.http://journals.openedition.org/discours/7683discourse frequencymarkednessstructural complexity of linguistic itemsZipf's Law |
| spellingShingle | Regina Pustet On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory Discours discourse frequency markedness structural complexity of linguistic items Zipf's Law |
| title | On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory |
| title_full | On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory |
| title_fullStr | On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory |
| title_short | On the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory |
| title_sort | on the correlation between discourse frequency and structural complexity in markedness theory |
| topic | discourse frequency markedness structural complexity of linguistic items Zipf's Law |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/discours/7683 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT reginapustet onthecorrelationbetweendiscoursefrequencyandstructuralcomplexityinmarkednesstheory |