Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Optimal Word Length For Communication

Languages are governed by universal principles. One is that all languages use a combination of vowels and consonants, and another is that all languages have grammar. A linguistic universal is that frequent words tend to be short. This is for ease of communication.

Frequent words which tend to be short include function words such as articles, prepositions and conjunctions and also pronouns and adverbs of time. The English articles a, an and the are monosyllabic. The conjunctions and, or and but are also monosyllabic as well as adverbs such as now and soon. The English personal pronouns are all monosyllabic: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, we, us, they, them. This is not only true in English but in many other languages.

It is common for languages to optimize communication by employing relatively short words for frequent use. The English adverbs of affirmation and negation, yes and no, are both monosyllabic. This is also the case in many other languages. Words which are used frequently tend to be short in all languages. This is one of the universal principles of languages.

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