Rank-frequency relation for Chinese characters
Rank-frequency relation for Chinese characters
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DOI：
10.1140/epjb/e2014-40805-2
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发表时间：
2014-02-26
影响因子：
1.6
通讯作者：
Wang, Qiuping A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Deng, Weibing;Allahverdyan, Armen E.;Wang, Qiuping A.
我们表明，Zipf定律的汉字完全成立足够短的文本（几千个不同的字符）。其有效性的情况类似于齐普夫定律的短英语文本中的单词。对于长中文文本（或短中文文本的混合物），汉字的等级频率关系显示两层，层次结构，结合了Zipfian幂律制度的频繁字符（第一层）与指数状制度的不太频繁的字符（第二层）。对于这两层，我们提供了不同的（虽然相关）理论描述，包括低频字符的范围（hapax legomena）。我们认为，这种等级频率关系的层次结构连接到汉字的语义特征（不同的意义和单应性的数量）。通过对汉字和英语词的词频关系的对比分析，可以看出汉字在汉语写作中所起的作用与字母系统中的词所起的作用是一样的。
We show that the Zipf's law for Chinese characters perfectly holds for sufficiently short texts (few thousand different characters). The scenario of its validity is similar to the Zipf's law for words in short English texts. For long Chinese texts (or for mixtures of short Chinese texts), rank-frequency relations for Chinese characters display a two-layer, hierarchic structure that combines a Zipfian power-law regime for frequent characters (first layer) with an exponential-like regime for less frequent characters (second layer). For these two layers we provide different (though related) theoretical descriptions that include the range of low-frequency characters (hapax legomena). We suggest that this hierarchic structure of the rank-frequency relation connects to semantic features of Chinese characters (number of different meanings and homographies). The comparative analysis of rank-frequency relations for Chinese characters versus English words illustrates the extent to which the characters play for Chinese writers the same role as the words for those writing within alphabetical systems.