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Universal versus system-specific features of punctuation usage patterns in~major Western~languages
Computation and Language · Submitted 21 Dec 2022
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim In the present study, based on a large corpus of world-famous and representative literary texts in seven major Western languages, it is shown that the distribution of intervals between consecutive punctuation marks in almost all texts can universally be characterised by only two parameters of the discrete Weibull distribution which can be given an intuitive interpretation in terms of the so-called hazard function.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
The celebrated proverb that "speech is silver, silence is golden" has a long multinational history and multiple specific meanings. In written texts punctuation can in fact be considered one of its manifestations. Indeed, the virtue of effectively speaking and writing involves - often decisively - the capacity to apply the properly placed breaks. In the present study, based on a large corpus of world-famous and representative literary texts in seven major Western languages, it is shown that the distribution of intervals between consecutive punctuation marks in almost all texts can universally be characterised by only two parameters of the discrete Weibull distribution which can be given an intuitive interpretation in terms of the so-called hazard function. The values of these two parameters tend to be language-specific, however, and even appear to navigate translations. The properties of the computed hazard functions indicate that among the studied languages, English turns out to be the least constrained by the necessity to place a consecutive punctuation mark to partition a sequence of words. This may suggest that when compared to other studied languages, English is more flexible, in the sense of allowing longer uninterrupted sequences of words. Spanish reveals similar tendency to only a bit lesser extent.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | The celebrated proverb that "speech is silver, silence is golden" has a long multinational history and multiple specific meanings. | background 1.00 | 0.03 | 0.01 | asserted 1.00 |
| s1 | In written texts punctuation can in fact be considered one of its manifestations. | background 1.00 | 0.05 | 0.02 | asserted 0.55 |
| s2 | Indeed, the virtue of effectively speaking and writing involves - often decisively - the capacity to apply the properly placed breaks. | background 1.00 | 0.04 | 0.02 | asserted 0.99 |
| s3 | In the present study, based on a large corpus of world-famous and representative literary texts in seven major Western languages, it is shown that the distribution of intervals between consecutive punctuation marks in almost all texts can universally be characterised by only two parameters of the discrete Weibull distribution which can be given an intuitive interpretation in terms of the so-called hazard function. | result 0.73 | 0.96 | 0.82 | asserted 1.00 |
| s4 | The values of these two parameters tend to be language-specific, however, and even appear to navigate translations. | result 0.98 | 0.88 | 0.27 | asserted 0.54 |
| s5 | The properties of the computed hazard functions indicate that among the studied languages, English turns out to be the least constrained by the necessity to place a consecutive punctuation mark to partition a sequence of words. | result 0.98 | 0.94 | 0.20 | asserted 0.90 |
| s6 | This may suggest that when compared to other studied languages, English is more flexible, in the sense of allowing longer uninterrupted sequences of words. | interpretation 1.00 | 0.42 | 0.08 | hedged possibility 1.00 |
| s7 | Spanish reveals similar tendency to only a bit lesser extent. | result 0.97 | 0.87 | 0.06 | asserted 0.98 |
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Original abstract
The celebrated proverb that "speech is silver, silence is golden" has a long multinational history and multiple specific meanings. In written texts punctuation can in fact be considered one of its manifestations. Indeed, the virtue of effectively speaking and writing involves - often decisively - the capacity to apply the properly placed breaks. In the present study, based on a large corpus of world-famous and representative literary texts in seven major Western languages, it is shown that the distribution of intervals between consecutive punctuation marks in almost all texts can universally be characterised by only two parameters of the discrete Weibull distribution which can be given an intuitive interpretation in terms of the so-called hazard function. The values of these two parameters tend to be language-specific, however, and even appear to navigate translations. The properties of the computed hazard functions indicate that among the studied languages, English turns out to be the least constrained by the necessity to place a consecutive punctuation mark to partition a sequence of words. This may suggest that when compared to other studied languages, English is more flexible, in the sense of allowing longer uninterrupted sequences of words. Spanish reveals similar tendency to only a bit lesser extent.
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