用演化模型解释语音频次分布的统计规律
Modelling the Diachronic Emergence of Phoneme Frequency Distributions
- 构建语音演变随机模型，模拟音位库随时间变化
- 加入功能负荷与偏好音位数后，模拟结果匹配真实数据
- 揭示语言规律可能源于历史演变，非人为优化所致
音位频率分布在全球语言中表现出稳定的统计规律，包括指数尾部的排名-频率模式，以及音位库规模与分布相对熵之间的负相关关系。这些规律的起源尚不明确。本文探究这些模式是否可由塑造音系系统的历时过程自然产生。我们提出一个语音演变的随机模型，并模拟音位库的历时演化。初始模型虽能复现排名-频率分布的整体形态，但无法捕捉其他实证特征。通过引入两个附加假设——与功能负荷相关的效应，以及趋向于特定音位库规模的稳定倾向——改进后的模型成功匹配了实际分布及音位库规模与相对熵间的负相关关系。结果表明，某些音系系统的统计规律可能是历时语音演变的自然产物，而非显式优化或补偿机制的结果。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Phoneme frequency distributions exhibit robust statistical regularities across languages, including exponential-tailed rank-frequency patterns and a negative relationship between phonemic inventory size and the relative entropy of the distribution. The origin of these patterns remains largely unexplained. In this paper, we investigate whether they can arise as consequences of the historical processes that shape phonological systems. We introduce a stochastic model of phonological change and simulate the diachronic evolution of phoneme inventories. A naïve version of the model reproduces the general shape of phoneme rank-frequency distributions but fails to capture other empirical properties. Extending the model with two additional assumptions -- an effect related to functional load and a stabilising tendency toward a preferred inventory size -- yields simulations that match both the observed distributions and the negative relationship between inventory size and relative entropy. These results suggest that some statistical regularities of phonological systems may arise as natural consequences of diachronic sound change rather than from explicit optimisation or compensatory mechanisms.
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