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A source- and channel-coding approach to the analysis and design of languages and ideographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2023

Mihnea Moldoveanu Open the ORCID record for Mihnea Moldoveanu [Opens in a new window]
Mihnea Moldoveanu*
Affiliation:
Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada mihnea.moldoveanu@rotman.utoronto.ca; https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/Faculty/FacultyBios/Moldoveanu
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Abstract

Can we explain the advantage natural languages enjoy over ideographies in a way that enables us to attempt the design of an ideography that “works”? I deploy an adapted version of Shannon's source- and channel-coding partitioning of a communication system to explain the communicative dynamics and shortfalls of ideographies, and reveal ways in which entrenchable, generalist ideographies could be designed.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e248
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

Cover, T. M., & Thomas, J. A. (2006). Elements of information theory. Wiley.Google Scholar
Shannon, C. E. (1948). A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27, 379–423, 623–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar