This study examined the theoretical controversy on the impact of syllables and bigrams in handwriting production. French children and adults wrote words on a digitizer so that we could collect data on the local, online processing of handwriting production. The words differed in the position of the lowest frequency bigram. In one condition, it…

Zipf's law states that if words of language are ranked in the order of decreasing frequency in texts, the frequency of a word is inversely proportional to its rank. It is very reliably observed in the data, but to date it escaped satisfactory theoretical explanation. This article suggests that Zipf's law may result from a hierarchical organization…

Explains Zipf's Law of Vocabulary Distribution (i.e., relationship between frequency of a word in a corpus and its rank), noting the discovery of the law, alternative forms, and literature relating to the search for a rationale for Zipf's Law. Thirty-eight references are cited. (EJS)

Presents a conceptual model of certain processes that may underlie word selection. The model provides the basis of a mathematical expression that can calculate the total vocabulary available in English with an accuracy of 4.33 percent to 0.7 percent. (Author/CB)

Establishes a type-token identity relating type-token ratio and bilogarithmic type-token ratio; uses the Simon-Yule model of Zipf's law to drive the type-token ratio and provide a statistical model of text generation; and refines the model to allow for decreasing entry rates of new words. (26 references) (Author/CLB)

This report describes research conducted regarding the development of a precise scientific language called the "Set-Function" Language (SFL) which was formulated in terms of sets and functions. The SFL retains many of the basic aspects of cognitive formulations but also provides more rigor than most of the other scientific languages. The SFL…

Endorsement to adopt the language of the predicate calculus as a standard means of describing deep structures. Its adoption would facilitate the exchange of ideas between linguistics and logicians. (RS)

National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) guidance appears to characterise mathematical language as a set of specialist words with unambiguous definitions, yet analysis of the classroom transcript suggests that at least some mathematical concepts cannot be captured by such definitions. This paper explores the notion of definition within mathematics,…

The author outlines the construction of a somewhat different machine than that envisioned by Turing (with which it would be possible to converse, presumably by telephone or telegraph, and which would be capable of masquerading as a human being). The machine envisaged by the author would be capable of doing comprehension exercises. Such a machine…

Literature in the area of measurement of comprehensibility is reviewed as it relates to the utilization of mathematical models for English. A number of mathematical language models are presented and explained, and evidence of their usefulness is given where available. In nonmathematical research, studies concerned with measurement of letter…

Language contact and the resulting interference has long been diagnosed as one of the primary forces behind language change. In cases of multilingual contact within geographically restricted areas, converging changes of the languages in contact have been uncovered and described. The geographic areas characterized by such linguistic situations came…

The focus is on aspects of learning and teaching mathematics in which the "distance" between the mother tongue of the learner and the language which dictated the design of the curriculum plays a major role. Illustrations concern students in Botswana. (MNS)

This is the second report concerned with the analysis of a young child's spoken French. It focuses on the study of the entire corpus of 33 hour sessions occurring approximately once a week and ranging from the time the subject was 25 months old to 38 months old. Chapter 1 is devoted to introductory remarks. Chapter 2 contains a dictionary of the…