Principles of semantic and functional efficiency in grammatical patterning

2024-10-21

arXiv.org

AI Summary

Why are cross-linguistic grammatical features—such as number and gender—semantically grounded (e.g., in quantity or animacy) yet functionally deployed to support syntactic agreement and processing efficiency? Method: We propose a unified cognitive–information-theoretic framework, modeling grammar as an optimal trade-off—under bounded cognitive resources—between semantic representational fidelity and predictive processing efficiency. Integrating semantic grounding with functional priority within a single information-theoretic model, we combine cross-linguistic typological analysis with optimality derivations under cognitive constraints. Contribution/Results: Empirical findings show that although grammatical organization originates in perceptual semantics, its diachronic evolution strongly favors processing efficiency over semantic precision. The study establishes that linguistic universals arise not from formal stipulation or pure semantics, but from falsifiable, functionally motivated efficiency optimization—a novel cognitive mechanism underpinning grammatical patterning.

Technology Category

• Natural Language Processing: Lexical Semantics and Morphology
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Analogy
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Preferences

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Models for Web evolution
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Efficiency and scalability of Web search engines

Abstract

Grammatical features such as number and gender serve two central functions in human languages. While they encode salient semantic attributes like numerosity and animacy, they also offload sentence processing cost by predictably linking words together via grammatical agreement. Grammars exhibit consistent organizational patterns across diverse languages, invariably rooted in a semantic foundation, a widely confirmed but still theoretically unexplained phenomenon. To explain the basis of universal grammatical patterns, we unify two fundamental properties of grammar, semantic encoding and agreement-based predictability, into a single information-theoretic objective under cognitive constraints. Our analyses reveal that grammatical organization provably inherits from perceptual attributes, but that grammars empirically prioritize functional goals, promoting efficient language processing over semantic encoding.

Problem

• Explains universal grammatical patterns via semantic encoding and agreement
• Unifies semantic encoding and predictability under cognitive constraints
• Shows grammars prioritize efficient processing over semantic encoding

Innovation

• Unifies semantic encoding and agreement predictability
• Links grammar to perceptual attributes information-theoretically
• Prioritizes efficient processing over semantic encoding