Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Components of Language

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs.

Language and Cognition

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.

Language

Language

Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
Corballis and Suddendorf (2007) and Tomasello and Rakoczy (2003) highlight the role of language in...

Language Development

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...

Improving Translational Accuracy

Improving Translational Accuracy

Base complementarity between the three base pairs of mRNA codon and the tRNA anticodon is not a failsafe mechanism. Inaccuracies can range from a single mismatch to no correct base pairing at all. The free energy difference between the correct and nearly correct base pairs can be as small as 3 kcal/ mol. With complementarity being the only proofreading step, the estimated error frequency would be one wrong amino acid in every 100 amino acids incorporated. However, error frequencies observed in...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Vocal-tract length estimation from vowel formants benchmarked against acoustic pharyngometry.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2026

Same author

Current research in phonological typology.

Linguistic typology·2023

Same author

Life of p: A consonant older than speech.

BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology·2023

Same author

Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 3, 2025

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Efficiency in human languages: Corpus evidence for universal principles.

Natalia Levshina¹, Steven Moran²

¹Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Linguistics Vanguard : Multimodal Online Journal

|July 26, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Human language demonstrates communicative efficiency, a universal tendency for speakers to save effort in processing and articulation. This efficiency is evident across various linguistic levels, from words to sounds, in multilingual corpora.

Keywords:

corpora efficiency information theory language universals typology

More Related Videos

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Published on: June 25, 2019

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 3, 2025

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning

Published on: January 29, 2020

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment

Published on: June 25, 2019

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody

Published on: September 27, 2024

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Cognitive Science

Background:

Growing interest in communicative efficiency in human language.
Theories suggest language users strive for efficiency, minimizing processing and articulation effort.
Recent corpus data has fueled studies on efficient language use across linguistic domains.

Purpose of the Study:

To discuss communicative efficiency in human languages.
To focus on evidence of efficient language use in multilingual corpora.
To provide an overview of efficiency manifestations and discuss key questions and findings.

Main Methods:

Analysis of multilingual corpora.
Review of existing literature on efficient language use.
Synthesis of findings across different levels of language structure.

Main Results:

Evidence suggests communicative efficiency is a universal feature of human language.
Efficiency is observed in lexicon, morphosyntax, discourse, and phonology.
Multilingual corpora provide significant insights into efficient language use.

Conclusions:

Communicative efficiency is a fundamental principle shaping human language structure and use.
Further research is needed to explore the nuances of efficiency across diverse languages and contexts.
This collection addresses novel questions and findings regarding language efficiency.