Numeral Systems Across Languages Support Efficient Communication: From Approximate Numerosity to Recursion.
Numeral Systems Across Languages Support Efficient Communication: From Approximate Numerosity to Recursion.
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DOI：
10.1162/opmi_a_00034
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发表时间：
2020-08
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Regier T
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Xu Y;Liu E;Regier T
语言在其数字系统中定性差异。在一个极端情况下，某些语言的数字术语集较小，这表示近似或不精确的数字。在另一个极端情况下，许多语言通过递归定义的计数系统具有非常大的数字形式。为什么数字系统会随着它们而变化？在这里，我们使用计算分析来探索跨越此频谱的30种语言的数字系统。我们发现这些数字系统都反映了对有效通信的功能需求，反映了其他语义域（例如颜色，亲属关系和空间）中的现有参数。我们的发现表明，数字系统中的跨语言变化可以通过共同的功能需求来理解，以在使用最少的认知资源时准确地交流。
Languages differ qualitatively in their numeral systems. At one extreme, some languages have a small set of number terms, which denote approximate or inexact numerosities; at the other extreme, many languages have forms for exact numerosities over a very large range, through a recursively defined counting system. Why do numeral systems vary as they do? Here, we use computational analyses to explore the numeral systems of 30 languages that span this spectrum. We find that these numeral systems all reflect a functional need for efficient communication, mirroring existing arguments in other semantic domains such as color, kinship, and space. Our findings suggest that cross-language variation in numeral systems may be understood in terms of a shared functional need to communicate precisely while using minimal cognitive resources.