Edward Gibson

That's basically the story, I think, behind a lot of why word order looks the way it is, is we're always connecting. What is the thing I'm telling you? I'm talking to you in sentences. You're talking to me in sentences. These are sequences of words which are connected, and the connections are dependencies between the words.

That's basically the story, I think, behind a lot of why word order looks the way it is, is we're always connecting. What is the thing I'm telling you? I'm talking to you in sentences. You're talking to me in sentences. These are sequences of words which are connected, and the connections are dependencies between the words.

That's basically the story, I think, behind a lot of why word order looks the way it is, is we're always connecting. What is the thing I'm telling you? I'm talking to you in sentences. You're talking to me in sentences. These are sequences of words which are connected, and the connections are dependencies between the words.

And it turns out that what we're trying to do in a language is actually minimize those dependency links. It's easier for me to say things if the words that are connecting for their meaning are close together. It's easier for you in understanding if that's also true. If they're far away, it's hard to produce that, and it's hard for you to understand. And the languages of the world,

And it turns out that what we're trying to do in a language is actually minimize those dependency links. It's easier for me to say things if the words that are connecting for their meaning are close together. It's easier for you in understanding if that's also true. If they're far away, it's hard to produce that, and it's hard for you to understand. And the languages of the world,

And it turns out that what we're trying to do in a language is actually minimize those dependency links. It's easier for me to say things if the words that are connecting for their meaning are close together. It's easier for you in understanding if that's also true. If they're far away, it's hard to produce that, and it's hard for you to understand. And the languages of the world,

within a language and across languages fit that generalization. It turns out that having verbs initial and then having prepositions ends up making dependencies shorter. And having verbs final and having postpositions ends up making dependencies shorter than if you cross them. If you cross them, it's possible You can do it. You mean within a language? Within a language, you can do it.

within a language and across languages fit that generalization. It turns out that having verbs initial and then having prepositions ends up making dependencies shorter. And having verbs final and having postpositions ends up making dependencies shorter than if you cross them. If you cross them, it's possible You can do it. You mean within a language? Within a language, you can do it.

within a language and across languages fit that generalization. It turns out that having verbs initial and then having prepositions ends up making dependencies shorter. And having verbs final and having postpositions ends up making dependencies shorter than if you cross them. If you cross them, it's possible You can do it. You mean within a language? Within a language, you can do it.

It just ends up with longer dependencies than if you didn't. So languages tend to go that way. They call it harmonic. So it was observed a long time ago, without the explanation, by a guy called Joseph Greenberg, who's a famous typologist from Stanford. He observed a lot of generalizations about how word order works, and these are some of the harmonic generalizations that he observed.

It just ends up with longer dependencies than if you didn't. So languages tend to go that way. They call it harmonic. So it was observed a long time ago, without the explanation, by a guy called Joseph Greenberg, who's a famous typologist from Stanford. He observed a lot of generalizations about how word order works, and these are some of the harmonic generalizations that he observed.

It just ends up with longer dependencies than if you didn't. So languages tend to go that way. They call it harmonic. So it was observed a long time ago, without the explanation, by a guy called Joseph Greenberg, who's a famous typologist from Stanford. He observed a lot of generalizations about how word order works, and these are some of the harmonic generalizations that he observed.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, what I mean is in... In language, there's kind of three structures to, three components to the structure of language. One is the sounds. So cat is k, a, and t in English. I'm not talking about that part. I'm talking, then there's two meaning parts. And those are the words. And you were talking about meaning earlier. So words have a form and they have a meaning associated with them.

Well, what I mean is in... In language, there's kind of three structures to, three components to the structure of language. One is the sounds. So cat is k, a, and t in English. I'm not talking about that part. I'm talking, then there's two meaning parts. And those are the words. And you were talking about meaning earlier. So words have a form and they have a meaning associated with them.

Well, what I mean is in... In language, there's kind of three structures to, three components to the structure of language. One is the sounds. So cat is k, a, and t in English. I'm not talking about that part. I'm talking, then there's two meaning parts. And those are the words. And you were talking about meaning earlier. So words have a form and they have a meaning associated with them.

And so cat is a full form in English and it has a meaning associated with whatever a cat is. And then the combinations of words, that's what I'll call grammar or syntax. And that's like when I have a combination like the cat or two cats, okay? So where I take two different words there and put them together and I get a compositional meaning from putting those two different words together.

And so cat is a full form in English and it has a meaning associated with whatever a cat is. And then the combinations of words, that's what I'll call grammar or syntax. And that's like when I have a combination like the cat or two cats, okay? So where I take two different words there and put them together and I get a compositional meaning from putting those two different words together.