The Psycho-Biology of Language : An Introdution to Dynamic Philology

George K. Zipf

ISBN 10: 0262740028 / ISBN 13: 9780262740029

Published by MIT Press, 1965

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - An investigation of speech as a form of behavior, examined in the manner of the exact sciences by the direct application of statistical principles to the objective speech-phenomena.

Seller Inventory # 9780262740029

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Psycho-Biology of Language : An Introdution to Dynamic Philology
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1965
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262740028
• ISBN 13: 9780262740029
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 203W x 137H x 21D millimeters 203 millimeters width by 137 millimeters height by 21 millimeters depth
• Weight: 472 grams

About this title

Synopsis

An investigation of speech as a form of behavior, examined in the manner of the exact sciences by the direct application of statistical principles to the objective speech-phenomena.

The findings of an extensive investigation of the stream of speech which is viewed as but a series of communicative gestures, presented in such a manner that they will be readily available not only to the professional linguist, but to any serious reader interested in linguistic phenomena. The author provides evidence for example, that the length of a word, far from being a random matter, is closely related to the frequency of its usage--the greater the frequency, the shorter the word. It can furthermore be shown that either from speech-sounds, or from roots and affixes, or from words or phrases, that the more complex any speech-element is phonetically, the less frequently it occurs.All the author's evidence points quite conclusively to the existence of a fundamental condition of equilibrium between the form and function of speech-habits, or speech-patterns in any language.