Abstract
THE object of this communication is to show that a certain remarkably simple experimental relation governing word-frequencies in language can be explained by a simple model of the process of searching for information, about each word heard or read, in the memory of words employed in the language faculty.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Zipf, G. K., “The Psycho-biology of Language” (Boston, 1935).
Dewey, G., “Relative Frequency of English Speech Sounds” (Cambridge, Mass., 1923).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
PARKER-RHODES, A., JOYCE, T. A Theory of Word-Frequency Distribution. Nature 178, 1308 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/1781308a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1781308a0
This article is cited by
-
Linguistic indicators
Social Indicators Research (1980)
-
Distribution of Word Frequencies
Nature (1957)
-
Distribution of Word Frequencies
Nature (1957)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.