Title:
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Can simple models explain Zipf’s law for all exponents?
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Author:
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Ferrer Cancho, Ramon; Servedio, Vito D. P.
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Other authors:
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Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Ciències de la Computació |
Abstract:
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H. Simon proposed a simple stochastic process for explaining Zipf’s law for word frequencies. Here we introduce two similar generalizations of Simon’s model that cover the same range of exponents as the standard Simon model. The mathematical approach followed minimizes the
amount of mathematical background needed for deriving the exponent, compared to previous approaches to the standard Simon’s model. Reviewing what is known from other simple explanations of Zipf’s law, we conclude there is no single radically simple explanation covering the whole range of variation of the exponent of Zipf’s law in humans. The meaningfulness of Zipf’s law for word frequencies remains an open question. |
Abstract:
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Peer Reviewed |
Subject(s):
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-Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Intel·ligència artificial::Llenguatge natural -Zipf’s law -Computational linguistics -Simon model -Intermittent silence -Lingüística computacional |
Rights:
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Document type:
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Article - Published version Article |
Published by:
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RAM-Verlag
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