Issue |
EPL
Volume 139, Number 6, September 2022
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 61002 | |
Number of page(s) | 7 | |
Section | Statistical physics and networks | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/ac8bf2 | |
Published online | 05 September 2022 |
The role of syntax in the formation of scale-free language networks
1 College of Chinese Language and Culture, Nankai University - CHN-300350 Tianjin, China
2 Institute of Quantitative Linguistics, Beijing Language and Culture University - CHN-100083 Beijing, China
3 CLAL, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies - CHN-510420 Guangzhou, China
4 Department of Linguistics, Zhejiang University - CHN-310058 Hangzhou, China
(a) hyym@mail.nankai.edu.cn
(b) htliu@163.com (corresponding author)
Received: 5 April 2022
Accepted: 23 August 2022
The overall structure of a network is determined by its micro features, which are different in both syntactic and non-syntactic networks. However, the fact that most language networks are small-world and scale-free raises the question: does syntax play a role in forming the scale-free feature? To answer this question, we build syntactic networks and co-occurrence networks to compare the generation mechanisms of nodes, and to investigate whether syntactic and non-syntactic factors have distinct roles. The results show that frequency is the foundation of the scale-free feature, while syntax is beneficial to enhance this feature. This research introduces a microscopic approach, which may shed light on the scale-free feature of language networks.
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