Graphic complexity in writing systems.
Cultural evolution
Graphic complexity
Laterality
Letters
Visual complexity
Writing systems
Journal
Cognition
ISSN: 1873-7838
Titre abrégé: Cognition
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 0367541
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
09 2021
09 2021
Historique:
received:
08
12
2020
revised:
08
05
2021
accepted:
10
05
2021
pubmed:
26
5
2021
medline:
3
9
2021
entrez:
25
5
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
A writing system is a graphic code, i.e., a system of standardized pairings between symbols and meanings in which symbols take the form of images that can endure. The visual character of writing implies that written characters have to fit constraints of the human visual system. One aspect of this optimization lays in the graphic complexity of the characters used by scripts. Scripts are sets of graphic characters used for the written form of one language or more. Using computational methods over a large and diverse dataset (over 47,000 characters, from over 133 scripts), we answer three central questions about the visual complexity of written characters and the evolution of writing: (1) What determines character complexity? (2) Can we find traces of evolutionary change in character complexity? (3) Is complexity distributed in a way that makes character recognition easier? Our study suggests that (1) character complexity depends primarily on which linguistic unit the characters encode, and that (2) there is little evidence of evolutionary change in character complexity. Additionally (3) for an individual character, the half which is encountered first while reading tends to be more complex than that which is encountered last.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34034009
pii: S0010-0277(21)00190-6
doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104771
pmc: PMC8346946
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
104771Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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