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Non-crossing Dependencies: Least Effort, Not Grammar

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Towards a Theoretical Framework for Analyzing Complex Linguistic Networks

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems ((UCS))

Abstract

The use of null hypotheses (in a statistical sense) is common in hard sciences but not in theoretical linguistics. Here the null hypothesis that the low frequency of syntactic dependency crossings is expected by an arbitrary ordering of words is rejected. It is shown that this would require star dependency structures, which are both unrealistic and too restrictive. The hypothesis of the limited resources of the human brain is revisited. Stronger null hypotheses taking into account actual dependency lengths for the likelihood of crossings are presented. Those hypotheses suggests that crossings are likely to reduce when dependencies are shortened. A hypothesis based on pressure to reduce dependency lengths is more parsimonious than a principle of minimization of crossings or a grammatical ban that is totally dissociated from the general and non-linguistic principle of economy.

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  1. Complexity and Quantitative Linguistics Lab, LARCA Research Group, Departament de Ciències de la Computació, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Nord, Edifici Omega, Jordi Girona Salgado 1-3, 08034, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho

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  1. Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho
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Correspondence to Ramon Ferrer-i-Cancho .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Alexander Mehler

  2. Department of Mathematics and Conputer S, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Andy Lücking

  3. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Sven Banisch

  4. Department of Physics, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Philippe Blanchard

  5. Department of Linguistics and Literature, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Barbara Job

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Ferrer-i-Cancho, R. (2016). Non-crossing Dependencies: Least Effort, Not Grammar. In: Mehler, A., Lücking, A., Banisch, S., Blanchard, P., Job, B. (eds) Towards a Theoretical Framework for Analyzing Complex Linguistic Networks. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47238-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47238-5_10

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