跨语言维基百科对同一概念的表述差异,科学类更一致,宗教类最分裂。
Convergence in Science, Divergence in Religion: Calibrated Framing Differences Across Wikipedia's Language Editions

- 用嵌入距离量化不同语言版维基对相同概念的表述差异
- 科学类文章跨语言一致性高于校准基准,宗教类最低
- 发现语言家族影响框架差异,但校准后显著减弱
当维基百科不同语言版本描述同一概念时,其表述方式有多大的差异?以往研究关注内容覆盖差距,本文则测量匹配概念的框架距离。分析了3000个可能的概念-语言组合中的2799个有效文章,涵盖150个维基数据锚定概念、20种语言版本、4个领域及一个校准集。原始嵌入距离反映内容差异与编码器对语言对的对齐程度。即使在化学元素、数字、颜色等跨文化指称稳定的校准概念中,最大语言对平均距离仍是最小值的3.6倍,且同语族间距离通常更小。定义基线调整距离(校准距离):两语言版本概念距离减去同语言对在校准概念上的平均距离。该调整显著降低特定语言对的对齐差异和语族模式。在三种多语言编码器(LaBSE、multilingual MPNet、CMLM)中,科学类文章比校准文章更一致,三者均将宗教排在首位,科学/技术排在末位。概念级排名高度一致(相对于LaBSE,MPNet和CMLM的斯皮尔曼相关系数为0.75–0.79)。在LaBSE下,宗教显著高于校准基线。政治类中,审查与难民等概念分歧较大,而民主与人权最为一致。代码、数据与每对语言的校准基线已公开。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
When Wikipedia's language editions describe the same concept, how differently do they frame it? Prior work measures coverage gaps between editions; we measure framing distance for matched concepts. We analyze 2,799 valid articles from 3,000 possible concept-language observations, spanning 150 Wikidata-anchored concepts, 20 language editions, 4 domains, and a calibration set. Raw embedding distances reflect both content differences and how well the encoder aligns each language pair. Even among calibration concepts with stable cross-cultural denotations (e.g., chemical elements, numbers, colors), the largest language-pair mean distance is 3.6 times the smallest, and distances are typically smaller within language families. We define a baseline-adjusted distance (calibrated distance): the distance between two language versions of a concept minus the mean distance for calibration concepts in the same language pair. This adjustment substantially reduces pair-specific alignment differences and the language-family pattern. Across three multilingual encoders (LaBSE, multilingual MPNet, and CMLM), scientific articles align more closely than calibration articles, and all three rank religion first and science/technology last. Concept-level rankings are highly consistent across encoders (Spearman rho=0.75-0.79 for MPNet and CMLM relative to LaBSE). Religion lies significantly above the calibration baseline under LaBSE. Within politics, divergence concentrates on concepts such as censorship and refugee, while democracy and human rights are among the most aligned. Code, data, and per-language-pair calibration baselines are released.\footnote{https://github.com/hhchen1105/cross-linqual-concept}
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