Statistical laws governing fluctuations in word use from word birth to word death
Date
2012-03-15
Authors
Petersen, Alexander M.
Tenenbaum, Joel
Havlin, Shlomo
Stanley, H. Eugene
Version
Published version
OA Version
Citation
Alexander M. Petersen, Joel Tenenbaum, Shlomo Havlin, H. Eugene Stanley. 2012. "Statistical Laws Governing Fluctuations in Word Use from Word Birth to Word Death." SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, Volume 2. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00313
Abstract
We analyze the dynamic properties of 107 words recorded in English, Spanish and Hebrew over the period 1800–2008 in order to gain insight into the coevolution of language and culture. We report language independent patterns useful as benchmarks for theoretical models of language evolution. A significantly decreasing (increasing) trend in the birth (death) rate of words indicates a recent shift in the selection laws governing word use. For new words, we observe a peak in the growth-rate fluctuations around 40 years after introduction, consistent with the typical entry time into standard dictionaries and the human generational timescale. Pronounced changes in the dynamics of language during periods of war shows that word correlations, occurring across time and between words, are largely influenced by coevolutionary social, technological and political factors. We quantify cultural memory by analyzing the long-term correlations in the use of individual words using detrended fluctuation analysis.
Description
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.